Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Peter Khill found guilty of manslaughter on Crown appeal

... Canadians contemplating self defence of property with a firearm need to take notice of the Peter Khill trial ... Khill was found not guilty on his first trial after shooting someone trying to break into his truck .... a Crown appeal and a subsequent jury trial recently found Khill guilty of manslaughter ... a conviction for manslaughter using a firearm carries a minimum 4 year sentence in Canada ... Khill had no previous criminal record

Par for the course in Canada.

Wow, he must have had something really important to him in his truck to kill someone breaking into it. I would never have done that.

… how about the truck itself? … I don’t know about you but I worked hard and long for my truck … not too keen on letting some deadbeat drive away in it … but citizens of a country with no enshrined property rights might see it different … maybe that’s why they don’t have any enshrined property rights?

Self defense of property? That doesn’t seem to make sense. Who’d want to kill somebody for attempting to steal something outside their home? Is there more to the story?

The self-defense laws in Canada are all BS! But as for someone stealing my truck, I would not kill them, I have insurance for that.

Several people I know have had their Quads stolen off of their trucks. I had a welder weld a big U BAR locking system into the back of my truck and chain my quad onto it during hunting season, to avoid these pigs from stealing it.

Given our laws in Canada, I would not shoot anyone except those who would pose a clear and defined life risk to my family or myself.

Even at that, I'd be in a world of crap, fast.

... if you shoot anyone in Canada under any circumstances as a civilian citizen (not cop or soldier) it's a safe presumption that you're going to be charged ... apparently IN CANADA presumption of innocence goes out the window as soon as defence with a gun is involved even though the statutory law on the books doesn't specifically say that ... if the perp was coming at me in earnest weapon in hand I would use deadly force to protect myself ... in any other circumstance in Canada especially if the thief was fleeing (even with my valuable property) I would call 911 ... and then file an insurance claim for my unrecovered/damaged stuff ... if you let valour prevail over discretion in most cases even if you are finally acquitted the lawyers fees will far exceed the value of any property you might be protecting

... Khill wound up being sentenced to 8 years in prison ... he had no previous criminal record ... if the perp attempting to break into Khill's truck had prevailed and killed him I doubt whether he would have been treated nearly as severely ... Canadian authorities seems to have a problem with victims of crime defending themselves &/or their property with a gun ... they seem to have an almost genetic stockholm syndrome for criminals

He won't do 8yrs.

Armed criminals pose no threat to their agenda. Armed citizens do.

... 8 yrs x 12 = 96 mos ... he'll be eligible for federal parole after serving 1/3 of that which = 32 mos ... 32 mos in stir is a big chunk out of a young mans life ... I guess the message the Canadian authorities is sending is: IF YOU USE A GUN TO DEFEND YOURSELF IF THE PERP DOESN'T DESTROY YOU WE WILL

Touché!

I searched and read the news reports about this case. This seems like a pretty lousy case from the shooter’s standpoint. I’m not sure it’s fair to generalize a lot from this one.

Wife and I were duck hunting in Canada a few years back and had a situation arise. We were in a motel in a city we considered a bit sleazy. We awakened to shouting and some people pounding our door. Of course we didn’t open it and the folks went elsewhere. Probably just some confused drunks or druggies, but it was a bit spooky. As a noncitizen, I’d not have wanted to go all FedEx on them. We don’t stay there any more.

What province and town were you in, if you don't mind saying?

Tip, stay from towns close to reserves.

It was a medium sized town/small city on the prairie. We’ve got friends in all the prairie provinces and 99% of the people are great. We stay in small towns now whenever possible. Rural people are the greatest and farmers rule! 👍

I agree, I have had many great relationships with farmers, and because of that I have been able to hunt some great private properties, that's for sure.

I hunt public areas as well and stay in hotels/motels. IMO it's better to stay in Brand name hotels if possible, like Quality Inn as an example. I used to have a Mobile home, but after doing the math, I realized that staying in a hotel/motel is way more cost-effective with a lot less work.

When I am hunting, I am gone well before daylight and not back until an hour or so after hunting daylight time is done. A good thing is to select a hotel/motel that serves a Free Breakfast, that way you get up, eat something they serve fast, and then gone for the day.

Happy hunting!

... as maple syrup farmers say ... when you boil the sap down to the syrup ... unless your life is in imminent danger and you are facing an aggressive and approaching attacker with a weapon and to quote Canadian law you feel that you are in danger of death or grievous bodily harm and there is no avenue of retreat DON'T ENGAGE ... call 911 ... if you engage you most likely will be charged and any vindication will come after court appearances and many thousands of $ in legal fees ... despite what the law or Charter might say when a victim uses a gun to defend his life in Canada HIS PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE DISAPPEARS ... perplexing and frustrating as it might see it is apparent that Canadian authorities would rather see a victim of crime rather than the perp inside the white chalk line after the dust clears

Honestly, I was surprised he was acquitted the first time. There must have been bad instruction from the judge to the jury that resulted in a reversible error and a new trial.

Had the perp been inside his home, I’d have a completely different viewpoint.

Bad as our self-defence laws are, it’s self-defence of person, not property.

It would be very difficult to use the self defence angle when you confront the thief on your property and you are the only one holding a firearm. Unfortunately, Mr. Khill will have to pay the price for his error in judgment. As others have said, if the individual was in the house it would be a different matter.

Looking back on the media coverage of this, there is no denying that the media attempted to make it a racial issue which then ensured an appeal of the first trial. Every story or article mentions the perpetrator as being an indigenous man. I don’t believe race had anything to do with the events of that night. Khill was confronting a thief and it didn’t matter from what community they were from. The left loves to make victims of certain groups.

Nick