A jury has delivered a guilty verdict in the trial of a man accused of killing Misha Pavelick during a Miller High School grad party at a campground nearly two decades ago.
Pavelick, 19, was fatally stabbed at the Kinookimaw campground near Regina Beach, about 45 kilometres northwest of Regina, on May 21, 2006.
Family members gasped, cried and began to hug as the 12-person jury delivered the verdict in a Regina King’s Bench courtroom on Friday. The jury began deliberations on Wednesday.
The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, but could also have convicted him of the lesser included offence of manslaughter. His identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act because he was 17 at the time of the killing.
After the verdict was read, the accused could be seen sitting with both arms on his lap as he stared towards the floor. His family sat only inches away as they wiped tears from their eyes.
The defence stood next to the accused as he wiped his tears, too.
The jury began deliberating on Wednesday after Justice Catherine Dawson read a 200-page summary of the evidence and set of instructions. Dawson discharged the jurors Friday, many of them also with tears in their eyes.
During closing arguments earlier this week, defence lawyer Andrew Hitchcock said the case against his client had been tainted by “years of gossip and comparing notes” among witnesses.
He told the jurors to consider all of the scenarios that could have happened the night Pavelick died.
