A man accused of shooting his neighbour on his rural Sooke property took the stand Friday to tell the jury he ended up on his neighbour’s property with a rifle because he was chasing away a bear.
Paul Tregear, 58, is on trial for aggravated assault, discharging a firearm with intent to wound, maim or disfigure, possessing a firearm without a licence and pointing a firearm at a person in connection with a May 7, 2022, incident that left 55-year-old Anthony Nelson with a bullet in his torso.
Crown prosecutor Sofia Green has suggested Tregear shot Nelson due to ongoing conflicts between their families.
Tregear told a different story, describing a “blur of fists” as he was beaten by Nelson, before he ran into the woods, terrified.
Tregear testified he had seen a bear near his home, grabbed his rifle and chased the bear out of his own yard. In the process, he ended up on Nelson’s property and decided to warn him about the bear, he said.
Tregear testified he walked down Nelson’s driveway toward the home and saw Nelson going to his camping trailer.
Tregear said he approached Nelson and said: “Hey Tony.”
Nelson responded by asking: “What the [expletive] are you doing?” and started punching him in the face, at some point taking his rifle, Tregear testified.
When Nelson backed off, Tregear ran into the woods, because he was scared, he said.
He ran to his house, got into his truck and drove to his nearby job site, Tregear testified.
He said he did not point the gun at Nelson and never heard or felt the gun go off.
“Did you intend to shoot anyone?” Tregear’s lawyer, Neil Brooks, asked.
“No, I did not,” he responded.
Tregear said he wasn’t even aware of a shooting until the next day when someone mentioned it while he was in jail.
Under cross-examination, Green asked why Tregear didn’t call the police after he was beaten by Nelson, showing the jury a photo of Tregear’s bloodied face after the altercation. One of his eyes was swollen shut and a cut extended from one eyebrow to the tip of his nose.
“You didn’t make a phone call to the police to report this violent assault on you?” Green asked.
“N0, I did not,” he said.
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t think of it,” he said.
Instead, he drove to a gas station to buy cellphone minutes to call his girlfriend, but his call wasn’t answered, he said. He then went to the job site and took a nap.
Tregear said he woke up to see police.
When officers asked for his name, he gave his first name only, and when they asked again, he said: “I’m the guy you’re looking for,” Green said to Tregear. “Why did you say that?”
“I don’t know,” Tregear said, at one point suggesting it was because he was trying to be polite.
Tregear said he accepted that Nelson was shot but he did not know when or how it happened or by whom.
“I’m going to suggest to you, Mr. Tregear, that you did in fact pull the trigger of that firearm which activated the bullet, correct,” Green asked.
“I did not,” he said.
“And then you actually managed to rack another round in that rifle, and that’s why Const. Devine found a bullet in the chamber when he picked the gun up off the ground when he arrived. Do you agree?” she asked.
Tregear disagreed.
“I’m going to suggest that you racked another round because you hadn’t accomplished what you had set out to do, which was to shoot Mr. Nelson that evening,” she said.
“I disagree,” Tregear said.
The trial continues Monday with closing submissions by Crown and defence lawyers.
