Carl Wright took the stand on day two of the Colin John murder trial and described his strange encounter with the accused killer.
Wright lived next door to the house where 20-year-old Derek Descoteau was attacked in May of 2016. Descoteau died as the result of stab wounds en route to hospital.
Wright, a 73-year-old retired millwright, said he was working in his yard when he heard a woman screaming.
“At first it sounded like a child and I wondered, who’s abusing her. Then I heard a second scream. Then I heard Derek yelling for help,” Wright testified in the Supreme Court trial for Colin John who is facing charges of second-degree murder and an attempted murder charge related to an attack on Descoteau’s then-16-year-old girlfriend Janelle Guyatt.
“I jumped into the yard. Derek was standing on the lawn and I got him on the ground. I could see a lot of blood and a lot of gashes on him.
“He had a bad cut on his neck, so I put some pressure on that. The neck wound was my concern and I applied pressure with my hand,” Wright recalled.
Wright began asking Descoteau what had happened and the young neighbour replied he’d been stabbed with “a f…king buck knife.”
When Wright asked him who had done it, Descoteau said: “Colin did and he’s right behind you.”
Wright says he turned his head and saw Colin John, a neighbour he recognized but didn’t know by name at that point.
“I looked and saw Colin standing there. Colin was walking towards us from between the house and the Jeep. I knew him as the neighbour’s son,” Wright said.
“I told him to get the f… over here where I can see you and he came over and sat down. Derek looked at him and he was agitated.
“I was trying to calm him down, saying you’re going to be OK. Colin also said to Derek, you’re going to be OK.”
Wright said John was calm, didn’t appear to be injured and was not aggressive as he knelt near Descoteau.
“I heard sirens, and the cops were there. Right away an officer was behind Colin. He asked me who did this and I pointed to Colin.
“He put the cuffs on him and they took him away.”
The trial resumes in Duncan Supreme Court on Wednesday.
