Jaspal Singh Sidhu testified in his own defense Thursday at his second-degree murder trial in Guelph.
He’s accused of killing his father, 68-year-old Balbir Singh Sidhu, at their Hands Drive home on Feb. 8, 2023. Court has already heard that the victim had eight stab wounds and was found lying on his back, holding a knife that was stuck in the middle of his chest.
Without showing any outward emotion, Jaspal Singh Sidhu told the judge and jury what he remembered about the day of his father’s death.
Defendant’s testimony
Jaspal Singh Sidhu said he shoveled the driveway and then went to buy alcohol, mix and marijuana. Back at home, he had a couple of drinks and napped.
At some point, Balbir Singh Sidhu tried to open his door and was frustrated that it was locked. He wanted his son to go outside and shovel snow.
Jaspal Singh Sidhu said he opened the door and told his father he had already done it, but then agreed to go out and shovel again when he had changed and used the bathroom.
Balbir Singh Sidhu allegedly grabbed his son, while complaining he didn’t help enough.
Jaspal Singh Sidhu testified that his father put him in a partial headlock. In response, he then put his father in a partial headlock which knocked off Balbir’s glasses and turban.
After that, he testified, they let each other go.
Jaspal Singh Sidhu claimed his father pushed him when he went downstairs to get a glass of water in the kitchen.
Balbir, he stated, was right behind him.
“He was kind of confining me to that area.”
Jaspal Singh Sidhu told the court he apologized and offered to shovel again but his father grabbed a knife in the sink and started waving it in his face.
“I’ve gotten multiple beatdowns in my life from this man and I’d ignore it.”
Jaspal Singh Sidhu then testified that his father made stabbing motions and, as he didn’t feel there was a safe way to escape, he tried to get the hand holding the knife behind Balbir’s back.
“He never really tried to kill me before,” he told the court. “It was a new kind of situation in the household.”
Jaspal Singh Sidhu said he wanted to run away but claimed his father told him, in Punjabi: “Don’t worry. Once I get free, I’ll show you.”
The knife, at that point, was aimed towards his father’s back.
Jaspal Singh Sidhu said Balbir was moving around a lot.
“It was because of his movement the knife had punctured his shoulder area,” he stated on the stand. “I said to him, ‘you need medical attention.’”
The defendant said his father, however, wouldn’t slow down.
“I just keep telling him that needs help,” Jaspal Singh Sidhu testified. “He just keeps saying, ‘I’m going to kill you once I get free.’”He then pushed his father up against some kitchen drawers which is when, he believed, the knife stabbed Balbir again.
“You need to call the cops, you need help,” Jaspal Singh Sidhu said he told his father, who continued wrestling with him. “He incurred more stab wounds.”
The defendant admitted there was confusion.
“[His] shirt being loose, I can’t really tell how deep the knife is going.”
Jaspal Singh Sidhu said he grabbed his father’s wrists and one knife broke.
“I kept uttering the same thing, ‘you need medical attention’ in Punjabi.”
He told the court the second knife was turned towards his father’s chest, and he lost his balance on a mat, also pulling down his son.
“I landed on top of him with the knife puncturing his chest area.”
Jaspal Singh Sidhu said he tried to find a phone to call for help but officers with the Guelph Police Service had already arrived.
“It was fortunate that it was a police officer,” he stated.
Cross examination
During cross examination, the Crown asked Jaspal Singh Sidhu about a stab wound on Balbir’s back.
He said it probably happened when the two were first wrestling in the kitchen.
Jaspal Singh Sidhu insisted he was trying to defend himself but “it was remarkable” that Balbir continued to be aggressive despite his injuries.
“He’s also my father, so I have concern,” he told the court. “It’s like double jeopardy, what do I do?”
The Crown then asked why he only had blood on his pants and not on his shirt.
Jaspal Singh Sidhu said his shirt was green and brown and the blood may not have been visible to the naked eye.
The Crown then suggested the defendant’s description of the altercation didn’t make sense and, in fact, he was likely trying to stop his father from getting away.
Jaspal Singh Sidhu denied that allegation.
Court was recessed for the day before the Crown finished its cross examination.
The defendant will return to the stand on Friday.
Crown’s case
Court previously heard testimony from first responders, police, forensics experts and Jaspal Singh Sidhu’s sister.
Two of the tenants who lived in the basement of the Sidhu home also took the stand. Both said they heard an argument upstairs. One tenant testified he had called 911.
Video from the body-worn cameras of Guelph Police officers were also shown during the trial.
Jaspal Singh Sidhu could be seen answering the door, then lying on the floor with blood visible on his pant leg.
“He grabbed a bigger knife, and I don’t know what happened,” the defendant told officers.
At another point, he said: “Dad tried to kill me.”
“I just countered, I just tried to protect myself. I’m sorry,” he continued in the video. “He went back to the kitchen to get a bigger knife. I don’t know what the [expletive] happened. I blacked out. I’m sorry.”
Investigators also showed the jury photographs of the home and inside Jaspal Singh Sidhu bedroom, where they found alcohol bottles and cannabis-related items.
A bloodstain pattern analyst, meanwhile, told the court that blood was found in the foyer, kitchen, hallway and dining room of the home. All of it belonged to Balbir Singh Sidhu.
As for the knife in Balbir’s chest, Renata Dziak from Ontario’s Centre of Forensic Sciences testified that only the victim’s blood was on it.
The sister of Jaspal Singh Sidhu was asked about her father’s health while she was on the stand. She testified that Balbir Singh Sidhu had injured his shoulder at work many years ago and still suffered from chronic pain.
