On Day 2 of a criminal negligence trial, Court heard from two more witnesses about attacks involving two dogs that later killed an 11-year-old boy from B.C. In April 2024, Kache Grist was in Edmonton visiting his dad, when he was attacked by two Cane Corso breed dogs. The boy died from a dog bite to the neck. The dogs lived in the home where his dad was staying. Their owner, Crystal MacDonald, is on trial for criminal negligence in the boy’s death. On Tuesday, court heard from a man whose small dog was killed by MacDonald’s dogs in July 2023. “I didn’t know how extreme it was going to be,” Dale Hesse told the court. He said MacDonald and a man named Ivan arrived at his rural property near Sherwood Park with a holiday trailer and the two dogs. The court heard MacDonald had an arrangement with his now ex-wife to park the trailer there during the week when not in use. Hesse said he was sitting on the couch with his small dog, a year-and-a-half-old Pomeranian named Rhone. He took a call from his wife and said he put Rhone in an outside dog pen. Hesse said his dog escaped from the pen and went over to where MacDonald’s dogs, Khaos and Kairo, were tied up. “I think Khaos got him first,” Hesse said. He continued saying the dogs were on either side of his dog. “It was a tug of war and you don’t want to see that,” he said. Hesse said he was punching one of MacDonald’s dogs as hard as he could in the head, while Ivan punched the other dog trying to get them to let go. The court heard MacDonald arrived and “put her finger in the dog’s butt” to get them to release. “That was her trick,” he said. “Did it work?” the Crown asked. “Yeah,” he replied. He said MacDonald went with him to the vet, where he told their staff to do whatever they could to save his dog. “How did that go?” asked the Crown. “Not very good,” Hesse said before breaking down in tears. “Did Rhone survive?” the Crown asked after a few minutes. “No,” said Hesse. The Crown then asked what, if any conversation he had with MacDonald. Hesse said MacDonald said she was sorry and mentioned “she couldn’t afford this” but added he told her not to talk to him. During cross-examination, the defence asked Hesse if he had any reason to lie to the vet, which he said no. “Rhone presented to hospital with a history of breaking out of his pen,” the defence read from the report. Hesse became agitated saying he didn’t remember saying that. “I think these are somebody else’s words. I think these are Crystal’s words,” he replied. Then began a heated exchange between the witness and defence. Hesse told the defence MacDonald checked the dog in under her name, but the defence quickly pointed out it was his name on the report. When asked if he had been warned about MacDonald’s dogs but still put his dog in a pen it had a history of breaking out of Hesse said yes. Woman bitten by the dogs 2 months before fatal attack Another witness called by the Crown witnessed MacDonald’s dogs attack a woman in February 2024. Raymond Grumbach said he went to MacDonald’s home with friends named Natasha and Tina for a visit. She wasn’t home when they arrived but he told the court Natasha appeared to have a code to get in. He said the dogs were there and excited to see them adding Tina gave them each a treat. When one of the dogs started to have an accident Tina took them outside. In a video played for the court, Tina could be seen jumping around, playing with the dogs and petting them. Eventually Grumbach and Natasha appeared outside with her. Then one of the dogs jumped up on Tina – knocking her to the ground. Moments later Tina could be heard crying out, “They’re biting me,” …. “Oh my God, let go.” Cries that continued as the video played and Grumbach and Natasha were seen trying to get the dogs off of her. “Go in the bathroom and stay there,” Grumbach is heard telling Tina in the video. The Crown questioned Grumbach about their efforts to free Tina from the dogs, then asked what happened when they got inside to safety. “She was in a lot of pain. She just wanted to go,” Grumbach told the court. “She was crying and there was blood from the bites,” he added. Grumbach said he didn’t know all her injuries but told the court she had bites to her arm, leg, and torso. He said MacDonald showed up as they were leaving to go buy medical supplies and recalled her being concerned and asking to see the injuries. During cross-examination, the defence asked if he knew if MacDonald gave them permission to go inside without her being there. He also asked if the dogs could have been let out by Natasha before he entered. Grumbach said it’s possible. Then his attention turned to the treats Tina gave them. He asked if Grumbach knew she made treats, he said he did. But when asked if he knew if she had treats in her pocket Grumbach said he didn’t know. The court heard from two other witnesses including an animal control officer and the neighbour who supplied video of the attack on Tina. He said installed cameras in his backyard, wanting evidence as he was afraid the dogs might break through the fence. The defence informed the justice it plans to argue the relevance of evidence being presented by the Crown of past incidents involving the dogs. The trial continues Wednesday.
