Crown rests case, defence calls no witnesses in Misha Pavelick murder trial

After 11 days of evidence and witnesses, on Tuesday morning, the Crown lawyer Adam Breker rested his case in the trial for the man accused of killing Misha Pavelick in 2006.

The man charged with second-degree murder is in his 30s now, but was under 18 at the time, so he cannot be publicly named. Witnesses who were young persons at the time are also not being named.

Read more: 

• ‘So much blood’: Partygoers near Misha Pavelick recall the fights before he died
• Pathologist explains exactly how Misha Pavelick died
• ‘Skipping rocks and throwing stuff’: Witness describes scene after Misha Pavelick stabbing

Defence lawyer Andrew Hitchcock chose not to call any evidence or witnesses. The defence is not required to call evidence – as Justice Catherine Dawson explained to the jury at the outset of the trial, the Crown must prove its case against the accused, the accused doesn’t have to prove his innocence.

Justice Dawson was expecting to take the rest of Tuesday and Wednesday to put together her charge for the jury, explaining the legal and evidentiary issues at hand in the case.

The lawyers were set to give their closing statements on Thursday afternoon, with the jury to be charged and could go into deliberations on Friday.

The evidence

Thirty-four witnesses took the stand, including two RCMP officers, one DNA expert, one pathologist and 30 people who were either at the party at Kinookimaw campground or interacted with the accused at Regina Beach that night.

For the most part, the broad strokes of that night remained the same, but with dozens of different perspectives from May 21, 2006 and nearly 20 years in between it and the trial, the details between witnesses varied widely.

A group of young people, mostly teenagers, met up that night at a gas station at the edge of Regina, including the accused.

They drove out to Kinookimaw campground to attend a large party thrown by students from Miller Comprehensive High School. Some of those in the group might have been invited, and at least some of them were unwelcome, according to one witness.

There were at least two knives in play – one which Dustin Scudder said he had and Scott Nelson admitted to stabbing Derek Enns with. And a Swiss Army knife that Kyle Edwards admitted to having with him, but said he didn’t take out of his pocket except when searching for a lighter.

None of the witnesses said they saw the accused with a knife during the fight.

The group was either allowed through the gate to the party or rushed through the gate to get in.

At some point after arriving, part of the uninvited group went to confront a girl at a campsite. A fight ensued, but one witness heard a male voice say he had a knife and could cut the girl’s tent open, another witness also heard that and identified the accused as the person who said it.

Near the large bonfire at the campground, many of the witnesses described tension between Misha and Andrew Perkins over a girl, B.V. — she was Misha’s ex — and Perkins was her new boyfriend.

Misha confronted Perkins, who was in the uninvited group, and hit Perkins over the head with a bottle.

Several witnesses said a fight followed, and named the accused as one of those fighting.

Then some witnesses said Misha walked away, while others described having to carry him away.

At some point after, the group confronted Misha and attacked him, with Misha ending up on the ground, being kicked and punched. Several witnesses said the accused was in that group as well, with one person saying he led the charge.

During this second fight, Derek Enns got involved and a fight between him and Scott Nelson broke off, and Enns ended up with multiple stab wounds. Nelson eventually pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.

Some of the witnesses said there was a break between the two incidents involving Misha, while others said one flowed right into the other.

After that, some witnesses said they saw Misha get up and walk a little way before falling again, while others said he stayed there and succumbed to his stab wound while friends tried to help with First Aid and CPR. One witness said people tried to pick Misha up and get him into a truck to take him for help.

Witnesses only said they realized Misha had been stabbed after the second incident or the second part of the incident.

The pathologist who did the autopsy on Misha found he died from a single stab wound to the chest, which punctured his heart. There was no evidence given about that weapon, except that it may or may not have been the same weapon that caused a stab wound in Misha’s arm.

A DNA specialist said there was no match for Misha’s blood found on the knife that was used to stab Enns.

After the campground

Before they left and before the group knew someone had died, Scott Nelson, said the accused admitted to him that he’d stabbed Misha.

Shortly thereafter, the uninvited group left and gathered again at a parking lot in Regina Beach.

One witness said she saw the accused and a handful of other boys go out onto the pier, and it looked like they were throwing things or skipping rocks.

Three witnesses who weren’t with the group, but came upon them in the parking lot, said the accused told them that “I” or “We” stabbed someone. One of them knew the accused.

Several of the witnesses from that uninvited group said they found out in the parking lot or on the highway that someone might have died.

On the way back to Regina, those who were in the car with the accused said he pulled over or demanded the car be pulled over on the highway, got out of the car, and ran off. Some of them said he had to be coaxed back so they could continue to Regina.

One person said, when he got back to the car, the accused was agitated and started badgering them with questions, and another person in the car said, “I killed him,” to stop the argument. Another witness thought that the exchange happened in Regina, back at the gas station at the edge of the city.

Some of that group went home, while others continued to a house party. Some of those who were at the house party said the accused continued acting upset, while another said he acted normally.

For nearly every witness, defence lawyer Andrew Hitchcock called into question their memories, challenging them with inconsistencies between what they said on the stand in 2025 and what they told police in statements as far back as 2006.

Hitchcock also seemed to be suggesting to witnesses that others could be suspects in the case – asking about one man who had blood on his hand in a surveillance tape, asking Scott Nelson whether he also stabbed Misha, and asking others whether they were scared of Nelson.