SASKATOON – Kevin Charles Witchekan – who is on trial in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench for second-degree murder – told a Saskatoon police officer that he was involved in the death of another man more than a decade ago in Edmonton, Alta., court heard this week.
The judge-alone trial for 41-year-old Witchekan, started Monday. He is accused of the brutal and random screwdriver attack against Randell Beauchesne inside the Royal University Hospital (RUH) on June 13, 2022.
“In 2012 I committed a murder,” Witchekan is heard telling a Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) officer during a video interview hours after the June 13, 2022, attack. The June 14, 2022, video evidence was played in Saskatoon court Monday.
The officer is heard asking Witchekan for more details.
“Daniel Barata in Edmonton,” added Witchekan, telling the officer the name of the victim in a matter-of-fact tone. “I got eight years.”
Witchekan’s remarks about Barata’s death were made during his interview at SPS detention with Sgt. Matthew Ingrouille.
According to a May 2014 story in the Edmonton Sun, Kevin Witchekan was charged with second-degree murder but had pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Sgt. Ingrouille had also asked Witchekan, “Didn’t I arrest you? I was in the gang unit before.”
Witchekan told the officer that he was in a street gang previously but isn’t anymore. He said one of his children was a member of WSO.
Beauchesne’s murder at RUH was a case of mistaken identity, court heard. Witchekan had mistaken Beauchesne for a drug dealer he claimed was charging too much for methamphetamine and cocaine, getting his wife and daughter hooked on IV drugs and having sex with them.
“He was charging too much,” Witchekan said in the police video interview played in court.
“You sure it was him?” asked the officer.
“Yeah. My wife told me stuff,” replied Witchekan.
“What if it wasn’t the same guy?”
“It is.”
“You stuck a screwdriver in a guy’s head, man,” said the officer. “The screwdriver went straight into his brain."
Witchekan told the officer, “I wasn’t trying to kill him. I was just trying to hurt him. I got angry. It was stupid of me.”
Witchekan also told the officer that Beauchesne "was trying to ignore him" in the hospital.
Court heard that after the attack, Witchekan was seen throwing the screwdriver under a vending machine inside RUH.
Witchekan told the officer he had the screwdriver with him at RUH to break into vending machines and to steal hydro-morphine.
Just before the police video interview had ended, Witchekan also told the officer that he has AIDS and has passed it to others.
The attack inside Royal University Hospital
Video surveillance that captured the grisly attack inside RUH near the cafeteria was played in court Monday.
The video showed Beauchesne backing up and trying to get away from Witchekan. Beauchesne was then stabbed three times in the head with the screwdriver and he collapsed on the hospital floor.
Beauchesne’s daughter, and other family members, watched the video in court for the first time. His daughter, visibly shaken, cried and lowered her head.
Witchekan laughed after he drove the screwdriver through Randell Beauchesne’s brain, court heard.
Witchekan family harasses Beauchesne family in court
During an afternoon break in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench on Monday, one of Witchekan’s daughters started harassing the victim’s family in the gallery. Saskatoon Police Service Sgt. Matthew Ingrouille and Senior Crown Prosecutor Melodi Kujawa tried protecting the Beauchesne family from Witchekan’s daughter.
Witchekan's daughter was telling the Beauchesne family that she is losing her dad, the accused, to prison. To that, Sgt. Ingrouille told Witchekan’s daughter that Beauchesne’s daughter has lost her father.
Witchekan’s daughter aggressively questioned the Beauchesne family over and over about the cause of his death and the prosecutor finally retorted the cause of death was "a screwdriver into the brain."
When court reconvened, Justice Heather MacMillan-Brown addressed the incident, saying “these discussions should not be happening.”
Witchekan had elected judge and jury but re-elected a judge alone trial.
The indictment was amended on Monday to correct the spelling of Beauchesne’s first name to Randell.
One of the main witnesses, a Saskatoon Police Service officer, had an emergency medical event last week and will testify at a later date, court heard.
The trial is currently in a voluntariness voir dire to determine the reliability of Witchekan’s confession and whether it should be admissible.
This report by SASKTODAY first published on Jan. 30, 2024 and updated Jan. 31.
This story and headline have been corrected to indicate that Witchekan was convicted of manslaughter and not murder.
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