A Kelowna man has admitted to killing his roommate two years ago with a hammer but says he was defending himself.
65-year-old Daniel Ruff testified at his second-degree murder trial on Wednesday, saying he and 51-year-old Warren Welters had gotten into a verbal fight in the hallway before Welters died on June 14, 2015.
“I said why do you have to be such an a******?” Ruff testified he said to Welters, referring to an earlier exchange outside, where Ruff said Warren called one of his female friends a “f****** whore”.
The verbal exchange happened on the second floor unit the two men shared in a house on Bernard Avenue, as a number of Ruff’s friends were outside downstairs for a barbecue.
Ruff testified Welters responded with a “F*** you” to which Ruff said “F*** you too.”
The fight turned physical, according to Ruff, when Welters jumped him and started choking him.
“He was choking the living s*** outta me, I was scared for my life,” he told the jury “This man was gonnna cause me grievance or harm.”
As he was being choked, Ruff said he reached for a nearby hammer.
“I wriggled and squirmed and there was a hammer in a cabinet beside me that I knew was there and I reached for that,” he testified “I took a swing and missed him.”
Ruff said the fight spilled into Welters’ bedroom, where he said he hit Welters on the side of the head once before Welters attacked him a second time.
“He came at me again and his hands are on my neck and I hit him again, and then he fell [on his bed] and I hit him rapidly, 3 more times.”
Ruff said the two men were intoxicated at the time of the incident, with Ruff admitting he had drank at least 15 beers.
After killing Welters, Ruff said he closed the bedroom door, washed his hands and the hammer in the bathroom, changed his shirt, put the hammer away, and called 911, telling the operator that he had found his roommate dead.
“I was totally distraught, I was in shock,” he testified “I couldn’t believe what had just taken place I was in denial.”
Ruff said he initially lied to police because he wanted to sober up.
The jury has already heard evidence that the two men often got into fights, including a physical one just weeks before Welters was killed.