Court hears details about fight at grad party as Misha Pavelick murder trial continues

A Regina court heard more details surrounding the altercation that resulted in Misha Pavelick's death in 2006. Sierra D'Souza Butts reports.

Scott Nelson, who pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in April of 2007, testified in court during the ongoing trial of the man accused of second-degree murder in the 2006 death of Misha Pavelick.

On Thursday, Nelson took the stand describing multiple fights at a graduation party near Last Mountain Lake, including one dispute that led to Pavelick being fatally stabbed on the night of May 21, 2006.

However, Nelson told the court the knife he was carrying that night was not used on Pavelick, but rather on Derek Enns, a man police found bleeding from a stab wound near Highway 54.

When shown a photo of a gold knife with an image of an eagle on it, Nelson confirmed it to be the weapon he used, adding the accused gave him the knife prior to Pavelick hitting Andrew Perkins with a beer bottle. Perkins was in a relationship with Pavelick’s former girlfriend at the time.

“I remember picking [Andrew] up and we got bottled again,” Nelson told the jury, nervously laughing.

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Perkins is expected to serve as a witness in the trial, in addition to Pavelick’s former girlfriend.

Nelson added he pulled out his knife after he was hit by a beer bottle by Enns, while the group of boys went back to fight Pavelick near the main bonfire.

“When that bottle hit me, I kind of went after him,” said Nelson. “I pulled out my knife and I attacked Derek. We got into a scuffle and that’s where I would’ve used the knife I had on Derek which was not far from the rest, but it was separate.”

In the Crown’s opening remarks on Monday, it was stated that the gold knife in question did not have Pavelick’s blood on it, but rather Enns’ blood. The Crown’s opening statement is not evidence of the case itself.

Nelson also told the court he was in the same vehicle as the accused, along with Perkins who asked him “to watch his back because someone wanted to fight him one-on-one” prior to arriving at the party.

A witness brought forward earlier in the trial, an organizer of the party, stated three to four trucks rushed through the gate, going on to say the people in the trucks did not have wristbands to enter the private event.

When the Crown asked Nelson how the accused felt after the stabbing. he told the court the accused was “excited.”

“He was bragging about getting him and stabbing him, and the knives. Besides that, he wasn’t acting erratic yet, not until we got to the highway,” Nelson said.

After leaving the campground with the group to go to Regina Beach, Nelson told jury members the accused asked him for his knife back.

“He wanted us to get rid of [the knives], it was more like ‘get rid of these.’ He wanted to get rid of it and same with his,” Nelson told the court.

“It was more like, ‘I’ll get rid of it’ kind of thing, and I kept it and didn’t give it back.”

It was around that time when the group of friends heard that someone who was stabbed at the party had died, leading them to pull over to the side of the road.

“We were driving on the highway, we stopped… [the accused] started running down the side of the road, really strange, erratic.”

Through cross-examination, the defence counsel Andrew Hitchcock asked Nelson if he stabbed Pavelick that night to which Nelson responded no.

The defense also asked Nelson if he “felt pressured by police” during his interview in 2006 – the night of the graduation party - stating Nelson did not mention the accused’s name at the time and only admitted to kicking Pavelick after officers confirmed he did not have a skull fracture.

In addition, Nelson did not name the accused in his statement with police in 2007, when he pled guilty for assaulting Enns.

On Tuesday, the court heard from a witness, Dustin Scudder, who admitted to bringing the gold knife into the party.

However, Scudder said he threw the knife “somewhere” at the campground before leaving the party and driving to Regina Beach.

The accused cannot be identified in keeping with the protections of Youth Criminal Justice Act, since he was 17 years old at the time of Pavelick’s death.

Enns is expected to testify in court on Thursday.