SASKATOON – Kevin Charles Witchekan laughed after he drove a screwdriver through Randell Beauchesne’s brain in a random attack June 13, 2022, inside Royal University Hospital (RUH), court heard Monday.
Witchekan, who is charged with second-degree murder in Beauchesne’s death, was “calm” after the attack, testified Crown witness Jeff Bridges, a security guard at RUH.
“I just remember his laughter, a deep chuckle,” said Bridges, adding, “I heard laughter and I heard Randell wailing in pain.”
Artem Kramarenko, another RUH security guard, handcuffed Witchekan after the attack.
“He was shouting ‘I got you, I got you for messing with my sweet girl. You got armies but I got you all by myself.’
“He continued to go on the entire time he was on the ground in handcuffs,” added Kramarenko.
Witchekan seemed to “take pride in what he did,” and was more focused on the victim after the attack than on being handcuffed, said Kramarenko.
In an agreed statement of facts entered by Senior Crown Prosecutors Lee Hnatiuk and Melodi Kujawa, and defence counsel Chris Murphy, Beauchesne had three stab wounds to his head and through his brain, which were inflicted by a screwdriver. Justice Heather MacMillan-Brown is presiding over Witchekan's non-jury trial that started Jan. 29 in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench.
Video surveillance that captured the grisly attack inside RUH near the cafeteria was played in court.
The video showed Beauchesne backing up and trying to get away from Witchekan. Beauchesne’s is then stabbed three times in the head with the screwdriver and he collapsed on the hospital floor.
Beauchesne’s daughter, and other family members, watched the video in court for the first time. His daughter, visibly shaken, cried and lowered her head. Kujawa paused during the trial and handed her tissues.
After the attack, Beauchesne’s blood covered his face and the floor, court heard.
“We rushed him down to emergency,” testified Bridges. “We got him into a trauma room as fast as we could. I was covered with the victim’s blood; my arms and hands were covered and some on my uniform.”
The security guards tried to keep him alert.
“He couldn’t sit up on his own in the wheel chair over time,” testified Bridges. “He declined and talked less. At first, he tried to stand up and walk away.”
Witchekan sat in the prisoner’s box not showing emotion, mostly hunched over with his head down.
Court heard that about 15 minutes before the attack on Beauchesne, Witchekan had approached the information kiosk and asked the security guards if two individuals were in the hospital. Kramarenko said one of the names didn’t show up, meaning the person wasn’t in hospital, and a confidentiality warning was attached to the other name so he knew not to reveal any information about that person to Witchekan.
Bridges testified that Witchekan seemed “a little off” adding that he wouldn’t give eye contact, talked lower, didn’t stand still, and his head was turning a bunch of times.
Under cross-examination by Murphy, Kramarenko said that there are no security cameras in the stairwell and people are known to do drugs in that area.
Kramarenko, who had two-and-a-half years of experience working in security at RUH at the time of the attack, said that Witchekan’s behaviour reminded him of someone who was intoxicated or had mental health issues.
Both security guards testified that they couldn’t hear the attack at first inside their kiosk and were alerted by another staff member who ran to them for help.
Beauchesne died a day after being taken off of life support on Aug. 5, 2022.
Witchekan, now 41, has pleaded not guilty. The trial is currently in a voluntariness voir dire to determine the reliability of Witchekan’s confession and whether it should be admissible.
Court heard that Beauchesne was attacked in an apparent mistaken identity.
Beauchesne was a self-employed arborist for more than 35 years and was active in the martial arts.
This report by SASKTODAY first published on Jan. 29, 2024.
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