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Accused denies attack on murdered man |
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Written by Delon Shurtz LETHBRIDGE HERALD
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Tuesday, 24 November 2009 |
A Lethbridge man charged with a brutal murder last year in the city took the stand Tuesday in Lethbridge Court of Queens Bench, and accused another man of assaulting the murder victim June 23, 2008.
Bradley Gray, 30, denied assaulting George Shawnee Many Shots or his brother-in-law Percy Panther Bone shortly after they walked past his home in the 1500 block of 5 Avenue North. He testified the two men were fighting each other, and when one fell to the ground, the other viciously kicked him several times before running away.
Many Shots died later of injuries sustained in the assault.
In court last week, Panther Bone testified Gray beat them both up, and he watched Gray punch and kick Many Shots as he lay in the entrance to an alley across from Gray’s home. Panther Bone said he ran away but Gray chased him and assaulted him, as well.
Gray’s friend, Peter Lavoie, also testified last week that he and Gray were drinking beer late that night, when Gray crossed the street where he saw two Native men and began pushing them. One of the men fell to the ground and Gray began brutally kicking him, Lavoie testified.
But Tuesday Gray denied all the accusations against him and said he watched the two men fighting. He even yelled at them as the taller of the two kicked the other on the ground.
“The guy has had enough,” Gray said he yelled. “Go fight in your own neighbourhood.”
Gray said the attacker fled east along 5 Avenue, but fell down, possibly onto his face. He noticed the man carrying a white plastic bag with what he assumed contained beer.
After the incident Gray returned to his front steps where he and Lavoie were drinking, then into the house and backyard. When they returned to the front yard Many Shots was still lying in the alley so Gray went to check on him. He testified he nudged him with his foot and told him he couldn’t sleep there. When he thought Many Shots might be choking on his own vomit, he rolled him onto his side and returned home for a flashlight.
When he returned with the flashlight, he noticed Many Shots lying in a pool of blood.
“I went home and called 911.”
Under cross-examination by Crown prosecutor David Labrenz, Gray said he never called Lavoie from jail to confess his crime, as Lavoie testified he did. He also denied being in the alley with sock feet and later throwing his bloody socks into the garbage; trying to cover up the crime by showering and changing his clothes; and threatening his common law spouse by telling her not to say anything to police. In fact, he said he hardly talked to his spouse that night, during or after the incident.
“I suggest you did talk to her,” Labrenz insisted.
Gray admitted, however, he had earlier slurred Natives, lied to police, and intentionally didn’t mention Lavoie’s presence at his home that night.
“I never felt comfortable dragging Mr. Lavoie into anything.”
Labrenz suggested Gray left out that critical detail because he was afraid Lavoie’s evidence would implicate him.
Defence Lawyer Balfour Der and both Crown prosecutors Labrenz and Greg Maxwell concluded their cases Tuesday. They are expected to give final arguments today, followed by Justice D. K. Miller’s charge to the jury.
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