Just after 7 p.m. on May 30, 2008, then Highlands councillor Kenneth Brotherston drove his pick-up to the front door of the West Shore RCMP, pressed the intercom button and told the dispatcher he’d had a “major altercation with a guy with a gun and beat the shit out of the guy,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janice Dillon heard today.
Inside Brotherston’s pick-up was the lifeless body of Keith Taylor, 33, of Colwood, Crown prosecutor Patrick Weir told the court in his opening statement at the second-degree murder trial of Brotherston and his two sons, Gregory, 33, and Kenneth Jr., 27. And despite police and paramedics trying to resuscitate Taylor for 30 minutes, they were unable to detect any signs of life.
In court this morning, Taylor’s mother Ann, sister Lynn and brother Steven sat in the front row a few feet away from members of the Brotherston family. The three accused sat separately in three prisoner boxes. Ken Brotherston, Sr. wearing a brownish jacket, sat on the right side of the court room. Kenneth Jr., wearing a white shirt, sat in the middle of the court, and Gregory, in a dark jacket, sat to the left side of the court room.
All three stood, lawyers by their side, to enter a plea of not guilty.
Gregory and Kenneth Jr. are also charged with assault causing bodily harm to Devon Daughtry. Ken Jr. is also charged with assaulting Andrea Olson and Alan Arsenault.
The court will hear from pathologist Dr. David Charlesworth that Taylor death was caused by mechanical asphyxia due to external compression of the neck, said Weir – “He was strangled.”
The structures of Taylor’s neck were broken in a way that required force applied in two different directions. He also suffered a multitude of injuries which stand in stark contrast to the injuries on the accused, said Weir.
The court will hear from crack cocaine addicts who were at 3351 Betula Place the day Taylor died and witnessed the events leading to the death of Taylor, said Weir. They will testify that Brotherston Sr. threw the first punch and his sons kicked Taylor when he was on the ground and also kept other people away while the beating continued.
A B.C. Ambulance paramedic will also testify that Brotherston told him he choked Taylor, not once, but twice, to the point of unconsciousness and threw Taylor down the stairs.
The court will also hear that Kenneth Jr. arrived at 3351 Betula Place earlier that day and was confronted by an armed Keith Taylor. Taylor threatened him and demanded money from him. Kenneth Jr. left, but returned to the house with his father and brother and met Taylor in the backyard, said Weir.
Taylor still had the gun. Brotherston struck him and knocked him to the ground. Taylor was quickly disarmed and Kenneth Jr. retrieved the gun.
Comments