Peter Khill found guilty of manslaughter in shooting of Jonathan Styres

Cries rung out and tensions flared in a Hamilton courtroom as Peter Khill was found guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of Jonathan Styres.

A 12-member jury decided Friday evening that Khill did not act in self-defence when he blasted Styres twice with a shotgun after finding him rummaging through his pickup truck in the wee, dark hours of Feb. 4, 2016.

It took the eight women and four men of the jury nearly 14 hours to deliberate their three verdict options: guilty of second-degree murder; not guilty of second-degree murder but guilty of manslaughter; not guilty.

The jury foreperson delivered the verdict just after 5 p.m. amid a packed, deafeningly quiet courtroom featuring dozens of family members of both the accused and victim.

Guilty of manslaughter, but not guilty of second-degree murder," the foreperson said.

Khill looked to the ground and shook his head in the seconds after the verdict, while his wife, Melinda Benko, could be seen in the back of the gallery weeping into the shoulder of a family member.

On the other side of the courtroom were emotional members of Styres' family, including the mother of his two children, whose eyes welled up as the verdict was read.

There was a little bit of justice for Jon but it's still extremely painful that they didn't come back with second-degree murder," Lindsay Hill said outside court, later adding: There's never going to be true justice because of what we've lost."

Tensions were high in the sixth-floor courtroom when Justice Andrew Goodman ordered a 10-minute recess after the verdict as he considered a Crown submission to immediately revoke Khill's bail.

As members of Styres' family shuffled out of the courtroom for the break, one man who had sat with the Khill family throughout the trial could be heard saying: If he had stayed home, none of this shit would've happened."

Ultimately, Khill was allowed to go home Friday night under the condition he surrendered his passport to Hamilton police at 9 p.m. Goodman will hear fresh submissions regarding Khill's bail conditions Tuesday morning.

After the break and once court was adjourned, a fleet of police officers and special constables - brought in due to safety concerns - awaited the departing Khill group in the hallway. No one from the Khill family spoke to the media.

The verdict marked the first time Khill was found guilty of any criminal offence in the death of Styres, who is Indigenous and from Six Nations.

In 2018, Khill was acquitted of murder after a jury decided he acted in self-defence. Two years later, however, Ontario's Court of Appeal overturned that decision after finding Justice Stephen Glithero erred during part of his instructions to the jury.

The Supreme Court of Canada affirmed the appeal in 2021 and ordered a new trial that began in late November of this year.

In both 2018 and 2022 trials, Khill admitted to shooting Styres but pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Khill told the jury Dec. 7 that he resorted to deadly force only because he felt it was his only option.

The jet engine mechanic and former military reservist testified he feared for his life when - after yelling Hey! Hands up!" at Styres - Styres partially turned toward him and quickly brought his arms to just below chest-height, as if he was holding a gun. The jury also heard Khill say his military training kicked in when he first saw the silhouette of a person in his 2001 GMC pickup truck around 3 a.m.

I felt there was an urgent, imminent threat ... and I needed to get control of the situation," Khill said.

Styres never had a gun on him the night he was shot.

The Crown argued the situation Khill felt he needed to control was one he created himself. Crown attorney Paul McDermott told jurors in his closing address that Khill could've, on several occasions, called police, fired a warning shot or turned on the lights of his home instead of grabbing a gun and killing Styres.

Hill, the mother of Styres' children, echoed the sentiment outside the courthouse Friday.

I find some comfort in that (Khill) was convicted and that (the shooting) was wrong - that he didn't have to do that," she said, later giving thanks to the Crown. They fought for Jon as best as they could and that's what he deserved."

I think this is a vindication of the rule of law in that you're just not allowed to kill people who are committing petty thefts," added retired Hamilton police detective Dave Oleniuk, who was the case manager for Styres' homicide probe in 2016.

What's next for Khill remains unclear. Goodman didn't schedule a sentencing date Friday. The Spectator asked Khill's defence lawyer, Jeffery Manishen, whether his client plans to appeal the jury's decision.

No comment," he said in a hurry leaving the courthouse.

Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com