Jurors in Hamilton hear dramatic 911 call made moments after Peter Khill shot and killed Jon Styres | 24CA News
Moments after listening to a “bone-chilling” blast from a shotgun and seeing sparks fly in entrance of her residence, Melinda Khill testified Wednesday she known as 911 on a February night time in 2016.
“Somebody’s been shot … please hurry,” the jury heard Melinda — whose title on the time was Melinda Benko — say on the decision performed for the Ontario Superior Court on Day 3 of Peter Khill’s second-degree homicide trial.
Her voice trembled and she or he struggled to catch her breath on the decision. In the courtroom room, she was crying whereas listening to the decision once more.
“There was somebody who was trying to steal the truck, and we just woke up to a sound … [My boyfriend] went out with a shotgun just because we were both scared from the noise we heard.”
Her then-boyfriend and now-husband is going through trial after capturing Jon Styres at roughly 3 a.m. ET on his driveway on Highway 56, a rural a part of Hamilton.
The 16-minute cellphone name, which incorporates Melinda and Peter, supplied a glimpse into the feelings working via them that night time.
LISTEN: Melinda Khill calls 911 after Peter shoots Jon Styres (Warning: Some listeners could discover elements of the audio disturbing):
The jurors heard Melinda Khill name 911 after her her boyfriend Peter shot Jon Styres. Peter is on trial for second-degree homicide.
“I just did CPR for, for probably six or seven minutes and he’s got nothing, no pulse,” the jury heard Peter inform a dispatcher on the cellphone.
“He was in the truck with his hands up — and not like, not with his hands up to surrender, but his hands up pointing at me. It was pitch black, and it looked like he was literally about to shoot me, so I shot him.”
The query Peter is confronted with is why his response was to choose up a shotgun, go exterior and shoot the 29-year-old Six Nations man as an alternative of choosing up a cellphone and calling the police.
“Why didn’t you call 911?” whispered Jon Styres’ relations as they sat and watched Melinda’s testimony in courtroom.
‘I used to be in absolute shock’
Crown prosecutor Paul McDermott and defence lawyer Jeffrey Manishen requested Melinda in regards to the night time, second by second.
Melinda stated she and Peter went to mattress round 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m.
Then she stated she woke as much as two loud bangs, one proper after the opposite, in the midst of the night time.
She stated she instantly awakened Peter and requested him if he heard the bangs.
Melinda stated she did not know what the sounds have been and whether or not they have been coming from inside the home or not.
Then they heard two extra.
That’s when she stated Peter bought off the bed and walked round it to look via the window.
“‘My truck lights are on,'” she recalled him saying.
Melinda stated she was looking the window and in addition noticed the lights contained in the truck from the dashboard on.
At the time, she thought she heard Peter go towards the closet, decide up his shotgun and cargo it earlier than leaving the house via a backdoor.
She additionally stated she had no concept how many individuals is likely to be exterior, however her eyes have been “glued” to the truck.
At that second, Melinda stated she wasn’t excited about calling 911.
LISTEN: Peter Khill talks to dispatcher after capturing Jon Styres
The jury heard a 911 name made shortly after Peter Khill shot Jon Styres. Khill is on trial for second-degree homicide.
“I was in absolute shock, I didn’t know what was going on. Everything was happening so rapidly,” she stated.
“You just feel like you’ve been punched in the stomach and you’re trying to catch a breath and understand what’s going on,” she stated.
Melinda stated she noticed a silhouette of an individual within the truck, however at that time Peter had already closed the again door behind him and headed towards Styres.
“I hear muffled yelling,” she stated.
What adopted was a loud, echoing growth and sparks — which Melinda assumed was a gun.
That’s when she stated she reached for the cellphone by her mattress and known as police.
She stated she was on the again door and noticed Peter put the gun again in the home earlier than going again towards Styres — the person he simply fatally shot.
“He was in total shock,” Melinda stated of Peter.
Peter finally spoke to 911 too, saying he solely realized after capturing Styres that he did not have a gun however appeared to have knives.
“I didn’t want to lose my life,” the jury heard him say on the decision.
Melinda testified she turned on the entrance porch mild and in addition jumped within the air on the grass to make it simpler for paramedics and police to find the scene.
‘The space we dwell in is not secure’
The courtroom additionally heard Melinda describe two incidents per week prior that left her and Peter on edge.
She stated Peter was typically away from residence for work and she or he was already frightened of being residence alone. They purchased the home on April 27, 2015 — her birthday.
She described leaving residence and staying with household or pals on weekends to keep away from being in her residence. She additionally stated she’d hold all of the lights off to try to make the house exhausting to see for any potential intruders.
The week earlier than the capturing, Melinda stated she heard somebody attempting to enter the code to the keypad on the backdoor of the house throughout the day.
When she opened the door, she did not see anybody again there. She stated she thought she was shedding her thoughts and did not assume to name the police.
The identical week, Melinda, stated it occurred once more — however this time underneath the quilt of night time.
Melinda stated she was scared. “As a 25-year-old female, you can only imagine,” she stated.
Melinda stated she made plenty of noise and tried to sound menacing to intimidate whoever was on the market. She stated she opened the door once more and noticed nobody.
After that, she stated she phoned her mom for consolation. She stated she did not assume to cellphone the police.
LISTEN: The full 911 name on the night time Peter Khill shot Jon Styres
Peter Khill is going through second-degree homicide for capturing Jon Styres.
She advised Peter about it when he returned from work and stated he was additionally startled to listen to it. They ended up altering the locks and stated she thought the night time Styres was within the truck, somebody could have efficiently broke into the home.
The courtroom additionally heard Melinda has been on 5 medical leaves from work for the reason that capturing.
She’s at present on depart proper now.
The trial continues Thursday.
