The shotgun blast that killed a Fallen Timber man in December 2010 was an accidental shooting, according to his wife, who is charge in the killing.
Heather Wilson Duncan, 63, faces a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Barry Alexander Duncan, 68, who died of single gunshot to the head at the couple's acreage south of Bergen on Dec. 10, 2012.
Wilson Duncan's jury trial in Calgary Court of Queen's Bench before Justice Alan McLeod is in its second week.
On Monday Wilson Duncan took the stand in her own defence.
She testified that she was sitting on the floor in the living room of the residence when Barry Duncan came at her with a 12-gauge shotgun in his hand.
As he attempted to pass her the firearm, it discharged, she said.
“He was pushing the gun at me,” she testified. “Then he fell down. I didn't hear the gun go off. I didn't hear it go off. I thought, ‘Barry, you are being silly'.”
She said she then walked up to him and only then discovered that he had been shot.
“I saw his face wasn't right,” she said. “His face was all wrong. His eyes were protruding. I knew something was very, very wrong. It was a horrible shock.”
She said she then called 911.
Under cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Doug Simpson, Wilson Duncan said she had been having an argument with Barry Duncan about Christmas decorations moments before the shooting.
She said she was heavily intoxicated at the time.
“He was pushing the gun at me and calling me names,” she told Simpson. “I tried to grab it to put it away. I wanted to put it away. And then he fell down.”
Barry Duncan was pronounced dead at the scene. Wilson Duncan was arrested at the residence when police arrived in response to the 911 call.
The trial continues.
