‘Visibly upset, like actually crying’: Witness describes actions of man accused of killing Misha Pavelick

On Thursday morning, a Regina court heard more details about the actions of the man accused of killing Misha Pavelick at a grad party in 2006.

The man facing a second-degree murder charge in Misha’s death cannot be named publicly because he was a minor at the time of the killing.

Read more:

• Putting pieces together: Court hears from party-goers at the Misha Pavelick murder trial
• ‘Screaming and running’: witnesses who were at the party testify at Misha Pavelick murder trial
• Uninvited guests, a grad party, an ex-girlfriend: Crown lawyer lays out case in Misha Pavelick trial

Scott Nelson, a friend of the accused who was with him and a group of other people when they went out to the grad party at Kinookimaw Campground, took the stand on Thursday. Back in 2007, Nelson pleaded guilty to an aggravated assault charge for stabbing Derek Enns in another fight that happened on the night of the party.

Nelson said the man accused of killing Misha drove him out to the campground, and was with that group during the party.

Nelson said their friend Andrew Perkins was worried about being in a fight that night, and asked Nelson and his other friends to “have his back” during the party.

Soon after, he said Perkins was hit with a glass bottle and knocked out – other witnesses have testified it was Misha who struck Perkins with the bottle. Nelson said that when he picked Perkins up, they were hit with another bottle, and that’s when Nelson said he went after Enns, believing him to have thrown the second bottle.

He described the fight he had with Enns, and said once he got up, he saw a group of people attacking someone on the ground – a person who ended up being Misha. He identified the accused as being part of that group.

Nelson said he was seriously cut in his fight because he’d used a folding knife, and it had closed several times onto his finger.

He said he went back to the vehicle and waited for everyone else to arrive. When the accused got back, Nelson said they continued to hang around for a little while.

Nelson said the accused was bragging about stabbing the person in the other fight, saying, “I got him, I stabbed him.” Nelson said he seemed “pumped” about it.

After they left the party, Nelson said the group met in a parking lot at Regina Beach, where they heard that someone had died as a result of the fights.

Nelson said the accused started acting differently around that point, becoming visibly upset and crying at points for the rest of the night. Driving back with the group to Regina, Nelson said the accused stopped the vehicle abruptly and then went running off down the highway. Nelson said his friends had to go to him and convince him to get back inside the car.

The group then returned to Regina and spent some time in a restaurant parking lot. Some of them later went to a house party, first stopping at Nelson’s home and the home of the man accused in Misha’s death, so they could change. Nelson said the accused continued acting strangely for the rest of the night, though he didn’t think much of it at the time.

“(The accused) was visibly upset, like actually crying,” said Nelson.

A couple days later, Nelson was arrested. He was charged with aggravated assault related to the fight with Enns, but he said he was also originally arrested for second-degree murder.

Nelson said he gave police his clothing and showed them where he’d gotten rid of the knife. He claimed he cooperated enough to show he didn’t kill Misha, but he said he didn’t tell police anything about the accused.

He said he lived a different life at that time and had a firm belief that he was there to protect his friends.

Nelson’s comments came in response to questions from Crown prosecutor Adam Breker. Andrew Hitchcock, meanwhile, was preparing his cross-examination of Nelson for Thursday afternoon.

In his cross-examination, defence lawyer Andrew Hitchcock spoke with Nelson about the murder investigation hanging over his head ever since that night.

Nelson had been interviewed about the killing in 2006 when he was arrested, and again by RCMP in 2021 for around eight hours. They established that Nelson hadn’t mentioned in 2006 that the accused admitted to Nelson that he’d stabbed Misha.

In court, Nelson said, at the time, he cared a lot about his reputation and what people thought of him, but not as much now.

“Now, I mean, if you want to call me a rat because I’m sitting here testifying, fine. Good for them, who are they to judge?” he said.

Hitchcock then queued up a video of the interview in 2021 when Nelson first mentioned the accused’s admission and played it – it showed a room with Nelson and an RCMP officer. The officer said they’d found Misha’s blood on Nelson’s clothing from that night. He then talked about Nelson’s life in 2021 – a business, a wife, kids – and asked if he’d be willing to lose everything he’d built by fighting a murder charge in court for years. He asked if Nelson was willing to risk that by sitting and not telling the officer the whole truth.

Nelson responded in the video, “Would you believe me?” Hitchock stopped the video there, and he and Nelson then talked about whether he had felt pressured by police in that 2021 interview.

Hitchcock also asked Nelson whether it was possible that he blacked out during the fight – Nelson said no. And when asked about it, he said it isn’t possible that he also hit Misha with his knife.

The knife

Nelson also testified about the knives that were in play that night.

He said before the fights happened, members of his group took out their knives, showing them off, as they were walking through the campground back to the car to get more alcohol. He said his friends produced two, maybe three knives, and that’s when he got hold of the knife he ended up using on Enns.

Nelson said he got the knife from the accused.

Dustin Scudder had previously identified that same yellow folding knife with an eagle on the handle as his, and said he’d tried to toss it away before going into the campground.

Nelson said the accused asked for the knife back once they’d returned to the car, and was very insistent that they get rid of them. Nelson said he didn’t give the knife back and instead hid it in a Smarties box in a public garbage can near his home, later directing police to it when he was arrested.