R v Girard Mock Trial - Crown Witness Kim Kendricks

What is your full name?

Kim Kendricks

What’s your job?

High school English teacher.

Where do you live?

#16 Cariboo Place.

Describe your house.

It’s a townhouse complex.

Where were you on Saturday, October 28th, 1990?

My husband and I were attending a dinner party, and returned home at around midnight.

What happened when you got home?

My neighbors in #18 were partying quite loudly with lots of heavy metal, they were barbequing and drinking.

What makes you think they were drinking?

I saw maybe eight cases of beer on the picnic table.

What did you do when you got home?

My husband and I went to bed at around 1AM, we both had to cover our heads with pillows. “It sounded like a rock concert going on at the end of my bed.”

Did things quiet down?

Yes, at around 1:30AM.

What happened after you went to sleep?

I was woken up at around 2AM by yelling from next door.

Who was yelling?

I could hear the voices of my neighbors Rooster - Kevin Steel, and Nicole Girard, his girlfriend.

Could you hear them say anything?

I heard Nicole say: “I didn’t do anything to your sister. I didn’t do anything.”

What did you do when you heard the yelling?

I got out of bed to look out the window.

Did you see anything when you looked out the window the first time?

Nothing out of the ordinary.

What did you do after you looked out the window the first time?

I went to bed because things quieted down a bit outside.

What happened when you went back to bed?

I heard a loud bang.

Why didn’t you get up after the first bang?

Because I thought it was a car backfiring.

What happened after the first bang?

I heard another bang, I knew then they had to be gunshots.

What did you do when you knew they were gunshots?

I got up and looked out the window again.

What did you see when you went to the window after you realized the sounds were gunshots?

I didn’t see anything at first, but I heard something that sounded like somebody’s kid crying, and a woman yelling. Then I saw a woman wandering the yard before going back into #18, Rooster’s place.

What did the woman say?

She said: “He punched me in the face! He punched me in the face!”

What did you do after you saw the woman in the yard and the gunshots?

I phoned the police.

What time did you phone the police?

2:07AM.

When did the police arrive?

They arrived while I was still on the phone.

What did you see when the police arrived?

Three or four officers came out from their cars with their guns up at #18.

CROSS-EXAMINATION: Did you hear anything specific said during the argument?

I think I heard a woman screaming and saying: “I knew somebody was getting a beating.”

CROSS-EXAMINATION: What were the woman’s screams like?

They were screams of pain and fear.

CROSS-EXAMINATION: Can you identify the woman who you saw walking in the yard?

It sure looked like Nicole.

CROSS-EXAMINATION: How did the woman (Nicole) wandering in the yard look?

Completely hysterical.

Did you hear Nicole say anything after the gunshots?

I heard her shouting something along the lines of: “I killed him! You guys are my witnesses! You guys are my witnesses!”

Were Nicole and Kevin loud often?

No, they were quite considerate of their noise. The engine noises from their motorcycles were annoying, but you gotta pick your battles.