What happened the night Misha Pavelick died? Here’s what we know

After nearly two decades, the trial for the man accused of killing 19-year-old Misha Pavelick is wrapping up. Sierra D’Souza Butts reports.

A nearly 20-year long investigation of how and who killed 19-year-old Misha Pavelick has left people with many questions. Chief among them: What exactly happened on that summer night in 2006?

Over the last three weeks, jury members have heard from over 30 witnesses recalling different recollections of the night Pavelick died.

The 19-year-old was fatally stabbed on May 21, 2006, at a high-school graduation party held at a campground near Last Mountain Lake, north of Regina.

The man accused faces a charge of second-degree murder. The accused, as well as many of the witnesses, cannot be identified as they were under 18 at the time and are protected under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Pavelick’s cause of death was reported to be a stab wound to the heart, according to the autopsy report presented in court. He was also stabbed in the arm and had three injuries at the top of his head, in addition to being severely bruised.

However, not one witness testified to seeing the accused stab Pavelick. The majority of witnesses told jurors they were not aware knives were even used in the various fights that broke out that evening.

Uninvited guests

At the beginning of the trial jury members heard from a witness who was the organizer of the graduation party held over the May long-weekend. Approximately 200 people attended the event.

He told the Crown he witnessed three to four vehicles rush through the gate as he was verifying wristbands for those entering the private event at the campground.

In addition to his testimony, other witnesses referenced the various people in those vehicles as “uninvited guests” to the party.

The group included the accused, his cousin, Andrew Perkins, Scott Nelson, Kyle Edwards, Dustin Scudder, and Pavelick’s ex-girlfriend.

Perkins was seeing Pavelick’s ex-girlfriend at the time. He also testified he knew the accused through his friendship with Nelson.

While Pavelick was having a conversation with his ex-girlfriend, jurors heard that Pavelick allegedly hit, or threw, a glass bottle at Perkins. From there, the two started fighting one another.

“I end up being in the middle, the fight starts happening, I get knocked down,” Pavelick’s ex-girlfriend told the jury.

After falling to the ground, Perkins said he got up and started to punch and kick Pavelick.

Witnesses said they saw Pavelick being kicked in the head and body by a group of young men in that same fight. Others testified it happened in a separate altercation following the initial dispute.

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The accused, his cousin, Perkins, Nelson, and Edwards were identified as the young men kicking Pavelick.

A friend of Pavelick’s, Derek Enns, intervened in one of the fights which resulted in a fight between Enns and Nelson.

Nelson pleaded guilty to assaulting Enns in 2007. Through his testimony in this trial, Nelson told the court the weapon he used on Enns was a gold knife with an image of an eagle on it.

Its unclear exactly which fight resulted in Pavelick being fatally stabbed – but he was pronounced dead by responding police at around 1 a.m.

Scudder admitted to bringing that exact knife to the party when taking the stand on Oct. 23.

A forensic specialist testified DNA belonging to Nelson and Enns were found on the knife – which was the only knife tested for DNA during the investigation.

DNA belonging to Pavelick, Perkins, the accused, and Nelson was found on one of two shirts seized at the time of the incident.

Through cross-examination, the defence asked Perkins and Edwards if they were considered suspects by RCMP up until 2021. Both confirmed this to be true in their testimony.

Group travels to Regina Beach after fight

Nelson told the court when the uninvited group left the campground, they met at Regina Beach.

The court heard from multiple witnesses who said they were approached by the accused, Nelson and potentially one or two others when they were parked at Regina Beach that night.

Regina Beach is about a five-minute drive from the campground where the graduation party was being held.

One of the witnesses who testified at the trial told the court she came forward after hearing an RCMP podcast about Pavelick’s death in 2021.

She told the jury the accused “seemed excited” about stabbing someone that night.

The witness, in addition to Daniel Price and Josh Senkow, were driving in the area of Regina Beach on the night of Pavelick’s death. The group eventually stopped in the town itself where they encountered a group of people, which included the accused.

“We were parked in the van, [the accused] came up to the driver’s side where Josh [Senkow] was driving … he was really excited about just stabbing someone,” the witness told the court.

Accused seemed ‘erratic’

After leaving Regina Beach to go back to the city, the accused was driving a vehicle, accompanied by Nelson, Kayla Kemp and two other women – both who cannot be named.

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,” Nelson told the court.

Through her testimony, Kemp also told jurors Nelson exited the car and chased down the accused to try and calm him down.

“[The accused] had an adrenaline rush,” Kemp said.

Nelson told the court the accused asked him for his knife back.

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

Throughout the trial, various witnesses said the uninvited group met at an Esso parking lot once arriving back in Regina. Afterwards, they travelled to a house in the city.

One witness said she accompanied the accused as he dropped everyone off at their homes. The pair eventually went back to the accused’s parents’ house, where they shared brief conversations for the remainder of the night.

The witness said she was not in a romantic relationship with the accused, as the two were just friends.

The Crown and defence are expected to present their closing arguments Monday morning. The jury will then receive instructions from the judge and begin deliberating.