A Port Alberni woman accused of murdering her son two years ago testified that she was trying to give a rifle back to him when he charged at her and the gun went off.
“I’m looking at the gun trying to figure out where I’m going to put it down and all of a sudden I’m falling over backwards. Like he ran right into me. I’m stumbling backwards and the gun’s going off. It was so loud. And then I could see my son in front of my eyes. He had his right arm reached out to me and I could see him spinning away from me, like falling backwards and spinning and then he just landed face down on the floor,” Samantha Dittmer said Wednesday as she took the stand in her own defence in B.C. Supreme Court.
Dittmer, 63, is charged with the second-degree murder of her son, Jesse McPhee, who was shot to death at point-blank range in the family home on Aug. 29, 2021.
Blood started pouring from McPhee, Dittmer testified. Then his girlfriend Brandy Kazakoff came in and started screaming and screaming and screaming.
“I said ‘Call 911.’ But she just kept screaming. I said ‘I’m going upstairs to get my phone and call 911 too,” Dittmer testified. “I dialed 911 right away. They put me on hold for a total of five minutes while my son was bleeding.”
The day began with a trip to Great Central Lake so McPhee could check on his crayfish traps. McPhee and Kazakoff were drinking beer, which was normal for them, said Dittmer, adding that she had three beers that day.
McPhee had been dealing with divorce proceedings and lawsuits. He was often angry and unpredictable. Dittmer had started to feel afraid of him and the stress was taking its toll on her, she said. After the trip to the lake, she went upstairs and tried to figure out what to do next.
“I was feeling like death was coming for me. I was starting to feel like I could die at any moment with my blood pressure so high,” she said.
Dittmer testified that she started looking up some of the people she cared about in life to try to speak to them one more time. Then she went downstairs and asked her son for a hug because she was feeling sad.
“He did give me a hug. But then he said: ‘Better lay off the beers, Ma.’ I said: ‘I’m not the one drinking the beer, Jesse, you are.’ And then he squeezed me really hard, like it was hurting me … my shoulder, my chest, ribs, everything. And he said into my ear: ‘Maybe I should just put you out of your misery.’ ”
Dittmer testified that she grabbed her keys and left the house.
“I thought I have to get away from him. He’s gone too far. He’s gotten to the point where he’s actually harming me. He’s never done anything like that before,” she testified.
Dittmer called a friend to see if he could drive her to the mainland. She thought it would give McPhee time to settle down and keep her safe. But the friend said no.
“I thought maybe if [Jesse] realized it was so bad I was running away from my own home that he might smarten up,” Dittmer testified.
“What did you want specifically?” asked defence lawyer Brian Coleman.
“I wanted him to put away all the guns, to get that one out from under my bed. … And this constant sharpening of knives and the constant self-defence training. He called it bootcamp. It was making me a nervous wreck and I could not take it anymore. That’s what I wanted,” she replied.
Dittmer drove to a river boat launch and watched the fishermen on the water while she figured out what to do.
“I thought maybe he had calmed down enough now. He’d go into these rages and then he’d be right back to his normal wonderful self,” she testified.
Dittmer drove home and went upstairs to use the bathroom. She didn’t hear any screaming or arguing. She testified that her phone rang but when she tried to answer it, it fell on the floor.
“I believe that was probably Jesse calling to apologize like he usually did,” she said.
Dittmer testified that she decided she was going to put her foot down and tell him she didn’t want the rifle under her bed.
“I wanted that gun away from me so I grabbed it and walked down the stairs. My intention was to give it back to him to put it away properly and tell him I wanted no more to do with it.”
McPhee had told her the gun was unloaded and had to stay unloaded, said Dittmer.
She walked downstairs holding the gun with two hands on the wood part, barrel pointing up.
The door to McPhee’s suite was open. Dittmer testified that she walked in and McPhee was standing in front of a table, looking outside.
“I expected him to turn around and say something to me, but he didn’t. He didn’t turn around. He seemed preoccupied, lost in thought. I thought ‘OK good. This is my opportunity to put it down and leave and go upstairs,” she testified.
That’s when McPhee tackled her to grab the gun, Dittmer told the jury. They didn’t even have eye contact. McPhee was looking the other way, the last time she looked at him.
“Did you ever at any time have an intention to kill Jesse?” asked Coleman.
“Absolutely not. No matter what he did I would never kill my boy,” Dittmer replied.
The trial continues.
