A B.C. Supreme Court jury has heard how a man burst through a window with bear spray and a hammer the night Langford resident Gordon Berg was killed.
Former Langford resident Joseph Knelsen is charged with first-degree murder, break and enter, forcible confinement, assault with a weapon and uttering threats.
In her opening statement Monday, Crown prosecutor Tamara Hodge gave a chilling account of what happened inside the home at 2557 Jeanine Dr. during the early-morning hours of March 7, 2011.
Berg, 53, was found in the downstairs kitchen by West Shore RCMP 23 hours later. He had suffered at least 10 blows to the head and five stab wounds.
Hodge told the eight-man, four-woman jury that the lights went out and homeowner Shannon Henson went downstairs to talk to her tenants Laura Carey and Berg to see if they knew what was going on. Then, Henson went back upstairs.
“All of a sudden, there was a loud crash and a person burst through the bedroom window of the downstairs suite, spraying bear spray on Laura and Gordon and sending glass fragments onto the bed,” Hodge said. “Laura struggled, blinded by bear spray, out of her bedroom, thinking Gordon was right behind her.”
Carey made her way upstairs, huddling with Henson in the locked master bathroom, Hodge said. The two women heard banging on the locked bedroom door. Then they heard banging on the bathroom door.
“They see a hammer coming through that door,” said Hodge. “Shannon opens the door to a man whose face is obscured. He is holding a hammer and he is covered in blood. The man grabs her by the throat. That’s when Shannon and Laura recognize the accused.”
During the month-long trial, the jury will hear from 12 witnesses, Hodge said. They will hear that the house was owned by Henson and her husband Don Frewing, a teacher in Ahousaht.
They also will hear that Knelsen came to stay with Carey and Berg in late 2010. For a short period of time, Knelsen lived upstairs. By mid-February 2011, Henson asked him to leave the residence.
The jury will hear from Henson and Carey, Hodge said. Henson is expected to describe how her life during late 2010 had taken a downward turn and she battled with prescription and non-prescription drugs. She also will testify that for a short time, her relationship with Knelsen became intimate.
Carey will describe how Henson talked Knelsen down that night and how drugs were used in the bathroom, Hodge said.
“Laura will explain that they waited until Knelsen left the residence, before they left together in Shannon’s rental car. They went to a bank and then to a hotel where they consumed more drugs. She will tell you why she did not contact police right away.”
At 10:50 p.m. on March 8, 2011, police received a call from Frewing in Ahousaht.
