Murder or self-defence? Jury hears closing arguments in 2021 Shuswap shooting death

A Kamloops jury is considering whether a Shuswap shooting that left a 32-year-old man dead was an act of murder or self-defence.

There’s no question who shot John Vance and no question the bullet to his chest led to his death in a Scotch Creek car wash. The question left to the jury will be whether it was a criminal act or it was justified.

Vance was killed by Paul Binder, the car wash operator, just as the sun was rising on June 25, 2021. The incident was captured entirely on video surveillance.

“John Vance was the aggressor in this story,” defence lawyer Jay Michi said in his closing arguments. “Mr. Vance was the aggressor in the relationship and in the events leading up to his death.”

The Kamloops trial lasted just over a week. Binder is charged with second-degree murder. The jury heard from police and witnesses at the scene, and they viewed the video surveillance capturing the entire event.

Video shown to the court showed Vance drive into the car wash around 5:30 a.m. and Binder stepped out of his front door to find him in one of the bays.

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Vance can be seen raising his hands making animated gestures, but the court didn’t hear what was said between them as the jury heard no audio from the videos. Binder goes back to his house and returns with a 9mm handgun.

Raising the gun as they face each other and as Vance approaches Binder, he reaches his hands toward Binder’s hands or the gun itself. Binder pulls the trigger and jumps back.

In the grainy video with fewer than half the frames per second than a nightly news program, Michi said it’s difficult to see whether Vance put his hands on the gun or not.

He told the jury it’s possible Vance grabbed it and pulled, forcing Binders trigger finger to fire the fatal bullet, or Binder acted in self-defence.

Binder’s defence called no evidence, but Michi did suggest it was reasonable for him to grab his handgun when facing a confrontation in a rural community with a person he appeared to want off the property, while emergency services were at least a half-hour away and Vance had a machete on his belt.

Crown lawyer Laura Drake dismissed claims of self-defence, however, telling the 12-person jury they had “all the evidence” they need to hand a murder conviction.

“There’s a world of difference between asking someone to leave a business and going inside and getting a loaded gun and pointing it at someone,” she said. “The former might be reasonable, the latter is not.”

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It was Binder on “offence” while Vance, not one to back down from a fight was on defence, Drake said.

The pair had a brewing feud which resulted in at least one physical fight. The day before the shooting, however, Vance was at Binder’s house and witnesses said they seemed to “tolerate” each other.

When Vance came back early the next morning he did have a machete on his hip and a loaded shotgun in his truck, but his hands were empty when he was shot.

Drake also said there was “no objective reason” for Binder to bring a loaded handgun to confront Vance a second time, adding that Vance did not follow him and there was no risk to his safety as he went back to the house.

Lawyers gave their closing arguments Tuesday, May 6, but the jury will return later this week for their final instructions before being sequestered.