SaskatchewanThe man charged with second-degree murder in the death of Misha Pavelick during a graduation party in 2006 at a campground near Regina Beach was bragging about stabbing someone that night, a witness testified Thursday.36-year-old accused was showing off knife on night of Pavelick’s death, court hearsAliyah Marko-Omene · CBC News · Posted: Oct 23, 2025 4:55 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesMisha Pavelick, 19, was stabbed to death at a party on May 21, 2006, near Regina Beach. (Submitted by Saskatchewan RCMP)The man charged with second-degree murder in the death of Misha Pavelick during a graduation party at a campground near Regina Beach was bragging about stabbing someone that night, a witness said. The 36-year-old accused’s identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, because he was 17 at the time. Scott Nelson testified Thursday at the Court of King’s Bench in Regina on the fourth day of the accused’s jury trial. In 2007, Nelson pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for stabbing another partygoer, Derek Enns, on the same night that Pavelick died — May 21, 2006.Nelson, who was 20 years old at the time, said he travelled up to the Kinookimaw campground, 45 kilometres northwest of Regina, with a group of friends who had cases of beer and wanted to party. He said the accused, who he often partied with, had been driving the car that night.“We never went out there to hurt [anybody],” he testified. Nelson remembered a point during the party when a few of his friends, including the accused, pulled out folding knives and started showing them off. Nelson said those knives were passed around, then the accused handed him a yellow knife with an eagle on it, the same one Dustin Scudder testified earlier that he brought to the party. Nelson said dozens of teens were standing in groups around the fire, hanging out and drinking. He didn’t initially perceive the party as tense, but said there was a point where he could feel the animosity in the air.He said Andrew Perkins, who was dating Pavelick’s ex-girlfriend at the time, asked the group to watch his back because someone wanted to fight him one-on-one. Nelson testified that Pavelick approached Perkins shortly after, looking to fight.“Bottles got smashed and it went south fast,” he said. Nelson said he saw Perkins go limp and fall to the ground as he felt glass and the remnants of beer spray all over him. Pavelick had approached Perkins with a beer bottle and hit him over the head, he testified. As he reached down to pull Perkins back to his feet, Nelson said another beer bottle was thrown from a different direction that hit his head and chipped his tooth. He turned to see Enns.Nelson said he remembered pulling his knife out and running over to attack Enns. Steps away, he looked over to see his friends, including the accused, grouped around Perkins as they all kicked Pavelick who was lying on the ground. “He was curled up on the ground, like, in a defensive position,” said Nelson.Accused seemed ‘erratic,’ Nelson saysNelson said his group eventually returned to the accused’s vehicle in the parking lot, with the accused the last to arrive. The accused seemed excited, Nelson testified. He said the accused approached him near the front of the vehicle and started to brag about stabbing someone.Crown prosecutor Adam Breker asked Nelson what happened to the knives after the big brawl earlier in the evening. He told the court the accused wanted to get rid of the weapons.“He was pretty adamant about that,” said Nelson. The group was driving back to Regina when they came to a police check along the highway, Nelson said. He said the accused parked along the highway and started running down the road. Nelson said the accused’s cousin had to coax him back into the vehicle. “He was crying, acting all weird and erratic,” he said. Nelson said they got to Regina and parked near a gas station in the north end.“At that point, definitely there was word going around that someone died,” he said, adding that he thought it was Enns. Nelson told the court there was a moment when the accused was on the phone visibly upset and crying. Breker asked Nelson why he didn’t originally tell those details to police in 2006. “Snitches get stitches,” he replied.Nelson told Breker he was loyal to his friends, but at the same time he didn’t want to be charged for a murder that he didn’t commit and he wanted to take ownership for his actions.Defence lawyer Adam Hitchcock is scheduled to cross-examine Nelson Thursday afternoon. ABOUT THE AUTHORAliyah Marko-Omene is a reporter for CBC Saskatchewan. She has previously worked for CBC and Toronto Star in Toronto. You can reach her at aliyah.marko@cbc.ca.
Man accused of killing Misha Pavelick bragged about stabbing someone, witness says
