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Eyewitness waffles on Moshenko’s role in fatal assault

Sep 26, 2013 | 5:38 PM

A young man who testified for the Crown in Wayne Moshenko’s second-degree murder trial said he witnessed the defendant participate in the brutal beating that killed his uncle.

But during cross-examination on Thursday afternoon Ricky Bear’s nephew, Harley Bear, wasn’t able to clearly testify to Moshenko’s role in the beating.

One of the first things Bear said after he took the stand on Thursday morning was, “I watched my uncle get murdered.”

Now 18-years-old, Bear was 16 on Aug. 6, 2011 when the fatal assault took place. He said his uncle, who was with a group of men including Moshenko and Cody Walker, picked him up in his wife’s truck on the morning of that day.

According to Harley, the plan was to drink alcohol while they drove around to different rural areas between Prince Albert and Muskoday. The group ran out of liquor sometime around noon and then stopped in Prince Albert to purchase more.

After they had obtained the alcohol, they started to head for Muskoday on back roads but Bear said they took a wrong turn and the truck became stuck. At this point, one of the men began walking back to Muskoday with a young child who had also been with the group throughout the day. This left Harley Bear, his uncle, Cody Walker and Wayne Moshenko at the truck.

Harley said that this is when the assault began. His
account of the beating during his morning testimony is as follows.

As soon as the four men were alone Cody Walker punched Ricky Bear in the face and knocked him to the ground. Bear tried to get up but couldn’t and Walker continued to attack Bear, punching and kicking him in the face.

Meanwhile Moshenko, who was standing beside Harley, forced him to the ground and kicked him in the face.
After what Harley said felt like two minutes, Moshenko joined the attack on Bear, kicking his face, head and chest along with Walker. Bear lay motionless throughout most of the beating, said Harley.

Harley was able to get up off the ground and began to walk away from the scene. Unable to tell if his uncle was alive or dead but scared for his own safety, he ran to a nearby farmhouse and called police. They responded to the residence and Harley subsequently led them to the crime scene.

However, in the afternoon, the defense began their cross examination of Harley Bear and his account of Moshenko’s role in the incident became less clear.

After two and a half hours on the stand, Bear was asked if it was Cody Walker and not Moshenko who had assaulted him and fatally beaten his uncle. Bear responded that he didn’t know.

Moshenko’s defense counsel also pointed out several inconsistencies between statements Bear gave to police, testimony he gave at the preliminary trial and his testimony from earlier in the day.

Crown prosecutor Michael Pilon will have Bear back on the stand for re-examination on Friday morning. After proceedings wrapped up on Thursday, he said he will try to have Bear clarify his account of what part Moshenko played in the assault.

Earlier in the morning, Bear’s widow had also testified for the crown. Gloria Burns said she had called Bear’s cellphone 20-30 times throughout the day and had also called police because she wanted her truck back.
She said she was concerned for her foster child, who was with the intoxicated men.

sleslie@panow.com

On Twitter: @_seanleslie