A Lumby man became very emotional on the witness stand during his Supreme Court murder trial in Vernon.
Howard Everett Krewson, 57, is charged with second degree murder in the death on June 19, 2014, of his common-law partner, Linda Marie Stewart – who is also known as Linda Ross – at the home they shared in the 300 block of Trinity Valley Road.
Krewson was the first defence witness called by lawyer Donna Turko as proceedings resumed Monday in front of Justice Frank Cole and a six-man, six-woman jury.
Krewson said that, on the day of Stewart’s death, the couple had received a phone call at 6 a.m. informing them of the death from pancreatic cancer of a mutual friend. Krewson said he and Stewart embraced and he was giving her support, then the couple “smoked one-and-a-half marijuana joints as relaxers.”
The pair went into Lumby, had breakfast at a restaurant and did some chores before returning home.
Krewson said the couple then consumed at least five glasses of wine and he also drank “seven or eight Coronas (beer), plus the couple smoked a marijuana cigarette or two every hour.” Krewson said this was “a fairly regular” routine for the pair.
Sometime during the afternoon, while working on a number of projects – Krewson said he was getting ready for a gathering at their home the next day, along with a wedding in Armstrong the following day, and was feeling “antsy.”
He said Stewart told him to “take a sleeper (sleeping pill) and relax and chill.”
After taking the pill, Krewson said, “that’s when things started going bizarre on me and I started to fade out.”
“I thought I heard dog running around, I vaguely remember anything after that, I don’t remember much,” Krewson said to Turko.
At this point, Krewson began to sob loudly on the stand.
“I woke up, I was on the couch and somebody was talking to me, a man with a deep voice, I don’t remember,” he said. “I thought people were talking to me but I didn’t know who they were. After that, I was gone and somebody said I was in the hospital.
“A man told me what happened and I didn’t believe him. He told me I was under arrest.”
Police were called to the home shortly after 6 p.m. and discovered Stewart’s body in a car along with the couple’s dogs, and a man suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Turko asked Krewson if he could recall having a disagreement with Stewart.
“I can’t remember.”
“Did you help her put the dogs into the vehicle?”
“No.”
“Do you remember the gun in your hand?”
(Sobbing harder): “No.”
“Do you remember shooting Linda?”
“No.”
“Do you remember shooting yourself?”
“No.”
Crown counsel Shirley Meldrum spent the better half of the morning session hammering away at Krewson’s testimony. He was expected to be on the stand through Monday afternoon.
A forensic psychiatrist was to be on the stand Tuesday.
Krewson, originally from Alameda, Cal., told Turko he met Stewart in the fall of 2008, shortly after arriving in Canada. He did some work for her, putting horseshoes on her horses. They began a romantic relationship in June 2013.