Man found guilty of murder in stabbing death of Misha Pavelick at Sask. grad party in 2006

A jury has delivered a guilty verdict in the trial of a man accused of killing Misha Pavelick during a Miller High School grad party at a campground nearly two decades ago.

Pavelick, 19, was fatally stabbed at the Kinookimaw campground near Regina Beach, about 45 kilometres northwest of Regina, on May 21, 2006. The accused was charged with second-degree murder in 2023.

Family members gasped, cried and began to hug as the 12-person jury delivered the verdict in a Regina King’s Bench courtroom on Friday. The jury began deliberations on Wednesday.

The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, but could also have convicted him of the lesser included offence of manslaughter.

The 38-year-old's identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act because he was 17 at the time of the killing. He remains in custody pending sentencing, scheduled for Nov. 20.

Misha Pavelick's father, Lorne Pavelick, spoke to media outside the courthouse Friday with his wife Karen Monder. Their son's family and friends are relieved and grateful for the month-long trial’s outcome, he said.

“I'm not saying my son was an angel over there in that whole exercise. I mean, they were all young kids, but I know for a fact that he didn't go out there to die that night,” he said.

He thanked Crown prosecutor Adam Breker, the jurors and the RCMP, who he said never gave up on investigating the case.

He also thanked the friends of his son who were at the campground with him on the night of his death.

“A lot of those young men and women were traumatized, some of them still feeling the effects, including those that created part of the problem that happened that night,” Lorne Pavelick said.

Because of those friends, he was able to talk to his son one last time, he said. The trial heard that he received a call that night from his son's ex-girlfriend, who told him the teen had been injured.

“I got to tell him I loved him, [that] it's gonna be OK,” he recalled, fighting back tears.

WATCH | Sask. man convicted of 2nd-degree murder in 2006 death of Misha Pavelick:

Sask. man convicted of 2nd-degree murder in 2006 death of Misha Pavelick

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A 12-person jury found the man accused of killing Misha Pavelick guilty of second-degree murder on Friday. Pavelick, 19, was stabbed during a high school grad party at a campground near Regina Beach in 2006.

The family wants Misha to be remembered for more than how he died.

“He had a huge smile, tons of friends, and people loved Misha,” his mother said.

“He was a likable boy and a likable young man and I’ll just always think of him with that big smile on his face.”

When asked about his hopes for the sentencing, Lorne Pavelick said he wants to leave it in the hands of the judge.

“That's another family that's in turmoil … and they need to be afforded some sense of kindness in this time of grief,” he said.

“We've been grieving for 19 years and it's a hole that never fills.”

After the verdict was read, the accused could be seen sitting with both arms on his lap as he stared at the floor. His family sat only inches away, wiping their eyes. His defence lawyer, Andrew Hitchcock, stood next to him and did the same.

When Justice Catherine Dawson discharged the jurors on Friday, many of them also had tears in their eyes.

During closing arguments earlier this week, Hitchcock said the case against his client had been tainted by “years of gossip and comparing notes” among witnesses.

He told the jurors to consider all of the scenarios that could have happened the night Pavelick died.

The Crown and defence lawyers did not speak to media on Friday.

The Crown has indicated it will seek an adult sentence.