Home | WebMail | Register or Login

      Calgary | Regions | Local Traffic Report | Advertise on Action News | Contact

Saskatoon

Woman IDs Stanley as Boushie's shooter, says his son had gun too

One of the women who was in the SUV with Colten Boushie the day he was fatally shot on Gerald Stanley's rural property said she heard the farmer tell a younger man previously identified in court as Stanley's son Sheldon to "go get a gun" before Boushie was shot.

'I don't believe you're telling the truth,' Stanley's defence lawyer tells witness Belinda Jackson

Gerald Stanley's son Sheldon arrives at the courthouse Thursday where a Crown witness said he took a long gun, not car keys, out of the farmhouse while Stanley grabbed a handgun and shot Boushie twice. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)

A woman told a Saskatchewan court today that she saw Gerald Stanley shoot Colten Boushie while he was sitting in an SUV on Stanley's farm.

"He shot Colten in the head," said Belinda Jackson, who was one of the four young people with Boushie the night he was killed.

Boushie, 22, who lived on the Red Pheasant First Nation reserve, died on Aug. 9, 2016, after an SUV carrying five young people drove up the driveway on the Stanley farm.

Stanley, 56, is now on trial on a second-degree murder charge in Court of Queen's Bench in front of a jury in Battleford, Sask. He has pleaded not guilty.

Jackson,24, saidduring day three of the trialshe heard Stanley tell a younger man previously identified in court as Stanley's son Sheldon to "go get a gun" beforeBoushiewas shot.

She said Sheldon emerged from thefarmhouse with a long gun in his hands while his father went into a garage, came out with a handgun and went to theSUVand fired two shots atBoushie'shead.

An autopsy report summarized at the start of today's proceedings by Crown prosecutor Bill Burge said there was only one bullet hole in Boushie's head.

After Jackson testified about what she remembered from that day, she was challenged by Stanley's attorney, Scott Spencer.

"I don't believe you're telling the truth," he told the woman.

RecognizedStanleylater by photo

Jackson testified that she had been drinking on the day Boushie died.

She said she did not know who Stanley was that daybut later recognized him as the shooter when she saw his photo.

"I saw his picture and I started remembering things," she said.

Belinda Jackson, who was in the back seat of the SUV when Colten Boushie was shot, identified Gerald Stanley as Boushie's shooter. (Don Somers/CBC)

Earlier this week, Sheldon Stanley said both he and his father were on the farm that day.

Sheldon testified he went into the house to retrieve his truck keys after the SUV pulled into the family's driveway and a man got out of the vehicle and tried to start an ATV parked on the property.

He said his father told him the gun believed to havekilled Boushie went off accidentally.

But Greg Williams,anRCMPforensics firearms experttestified on Thursday that tests showed the guncouldn't be fired without pulling the trigger.

Jackson's testimony also contradicted Sheldon's when she denied picking up therifle barrel that was found near Boushie'sbody. Sheldon testified yesterday that Jackson and the other woman who had beenin theSUV,Boushie'sgirlfriendKioraWuttunee, were "pointing [it] at each other and saying, 'Bang, Bang.'"

They did agree on one point: Jackson did attack Sheldon's mother and Gerald Stanley's wife Leesawho, by the time of the shooting, was also at the SUV.

"I punched her," said Jackson of the aftermathof the shooting.

Firearms expert Greg Williams said the gun that killed Colten Boushie could not have been fired without pulling the trigger. (Cloudesley Rook-Hobbs)

'Bullet right beside my ear'

Earlier on Thursday, the person who drove Boushie and others onto the farm, 18-year-old CassidyCross-Whitstone,told jurors he heard bullets whizzing past him as he tried to run from the farm.

He said he took off whensomeonesmashed the SUV's windshield after another passenger,Eric Meechance, tried to steal the ATV.

"I heard a bullet right beside my ear," he said. "I can hear that stuck in my head."

When he was cross-examined by Spencer, Cross-Whitstone said he originally told police he believed warning shots were being fired in the air.

Spencer said Cross-Whitsonelied about trying to break into a truck on a neighbouring property before the group reached the Stanley yard.

"I was scared for myself and the people that might get in trouble," he said.

Cross-Whitstone said he was under a driving ban and was "pretty hammered" on the day of Boushie's death.

Cassidy Cross-Whitstone, the person who was driving the SUV that brought Colten Boushie to Gerald Stanley's farm, arrives at the courthouse. (Guy Quenneville/CBC)

Boushie's blood alcohol content was 0.3 per cent when he died, according to a summary of toxicology tests presented by Burge.

For comparison, Saskatchewan's legal driving limit is 0.04 per cent.

"Colten Boushie is not on trial here," said Boushie's cousin Jade Tootoosis outside the courtroom."Those four other youth are not on trial here. Gerald Stanley is."

with files from Charles Hamilton, Jason Warick and Brett Purdy