Rookie cop describes shooting scene at Boris Panvoski murder retrial

A St. Thomas, Ont. courtroom heard evidence surrounding the commotion that took place minutes after a Toronto area businessman was shot and killed while at a bird dog event in Huron County.

OPP Det. Const. Amanda Maure was on her second day on the job on Sept. 13, 2014 when she rushed out to the deadly shooting at the Hullet Conservation Area, north of Clinton.

The rookie cop said, “It was considered to be an active shooter in the woods.”

Donato Frigo was out on horseback with his wife, Eva Willer Frigo and their dogs when he was shot and killed and she was injured.

Maure put on extra body armour and said, “Someone told me to go down and get the female out.”

She said when she got to her, “I saw that there was blood on her face, I noticed blood on her hands, she kept hyperventilating…she was in a bit of shock.”

The officer said when they got to hospital, “The doctor had to dig into her face to get the buckshot out, he had to remove a tooth…she was poked and prodded for hours.”

In June of 2018, a jury in Goderich found Boris Panovski, now 79 years of age, guilty of first-degree murder in connection with the case. The court has heard that Panovski, a breeder, blamed Frigo for his loss of reputation in the bird dog world.

Once again, he had pleaded not guilty at the retrial.

Later under cross-examination from the defence, Maure described Eva’s reaction when she learned that her husband Donato had died, “She was heartbroken…she seemed to calm down after being told someone was with him and was staying with him.”

The retrial, which started on May 23, is slated to last six weeks.