Jury begins deliberating in the Peter Khill second-degree murder trial

The jury has begun deliberating in the Peter Khill second-degree murder trial. The 12 jurors will have to unanimously decide on one of three possible verdicts.

Khill has admitted to shooting 29-year-old Jonathan Styres in February, 2016. Styres was on Khill’s property and had broken into Khill’s pickup truck when the shooting occurred.

Khill has testified that he thought Dtyres had something in his hand and feared Styres was going to shoot, so Khill shot first in self defence he says. Styres did not have a gun on him that night.

The Crown has emphasized the fact that Khill did not call 911 when he noticed someone was on his property. Instead, he grabbed his shotgun and headed outside.

In his charge to the jury this morning, the judge explained that they can either find Khill not guilty on the basis of self defence, guilty of second-degree murder, or guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Judge Andrew Goodman also explained that the difference between manslaughter and second-degree murder is that murder involves intent or state of mind. Did Peter Khill set out to kill the person on his property that night or intend to cause bodily harm that he knew could result in death? These are the questions the jury will have to deliberate on.

UPDATE: No verdict was reached Thursday evening and the jury will continue to deliberate Friday at 10 a.m.