David Antonison was recently found guilty of attempted murder and a few other charges for unloading some bullets from a .44 into the home of neighbours Bruce and Joyce Coghill during a dispute over the location of some dog crap. Why we needed a trial though I’m not really sure, because this, apparently, was the best defence that he and Lawyer Patrick Ducharme could come up with.
Antonison fired through the front door and through a window with a Colt Anaconda .44-calibre handgun.
Terrified, Bruce Coghill ran around inside as his house filled with bullets, glass, wood and shrapnel. Joyce, 69, was in a bedroom calling 911. They are both retired schoolteachers. Neither was injured.
Minutes earlier, after Coghill spoke to him about his dog, Antonison said three times that “I’m going to (expletive) kill you.” He walked away before returning with a gun.
After firing into the house, he peered through a window he had just shot through to make eye contact with Coghill, the jury heard.
Though neighbours for decades, living a few doors apart, this was just their second-ever conversation. The only other time they spoke, Coghill asked Antonison to clean up the feces left by his dog.
Antonison, who was licensed to own firearms, pleaded not guilty and did not testify. His lawyer told the jury he did not intend to kill or hurt anyone because he did not take aim at anyone.
Ok, so you’re saying that you shot up the man’s house, but that you did so indiscriminately rather than with deliberate, lethal intent? I think we’re done here. No one has ever gotten injured that way. Heck, your so-called victim is sitting right here in this courtroom today, not a mark on him. Sir, good day to you. You are free to go.