An eyewitness to an alleged Edmonton strangulation slaying told a jury Tuesday that a drunken fight erupted over a roast gravy mess and holes punched in walls.

Paul Gill, 46, testified he had been sleeping in the Mill Woods home he shared with two roommates when alleged killer Bill Tubrett came home “drunk” and “pissed off.”

Gill said Tubrett was upset about an incident with a woman at a neighbourhood bar and was “screaming” about the fact there wasn’t anything left of a roast that had been cooking in the oven when he had gone out.

“I saw gravy all over the walls,” said Gill, adding that he witnessed Tubrett punch several holes in the walls.

The key Crown witness told jurors he went back to his bedroom to sleep, but was woken a short time later when he heard the third roommate, Jamie Vickers, yelling at Tubrett to get off the floor and to go downstairs.

Gill testified Vickers then called him out of his room and asked him about the gravy on the walls and the holes.

He said a “pissed off” Vickers “flipped” and kicked or threw a rocking chair onto the downstairs landing before going down to where Tubrett was.

Gill testified he called out to Vickers five minutes later, but got no answer, so he called out to Tubrett, who told him to come down to the basement.

“I seen Jamie on his knees and Bill with his hands on his neck,” said Gill. “That was it. He was choking him or whatever he done.”

He told court he told Tubrett to let Vickers go and said that Tubrett released Vickers after having held him in a headlock for several minutes and Vickers slid to the floor.

Gill told the jury he went upstairs and packed his bags and then returned to the basement when Tubrett asked him to watch Vickers. He added that he also saw Tubrett punch Vickers in the face and kick him in the back.

Gill said Vickers wasn’t moving and never said anything and he could hear “a gurgle” coming out of his mouth.

He testified that he and Tubrett then left in Vickers truck and ended up driving up to Fort McMurray.

He also said he didn’t think Vickers, 35, was dead.

The jury heard Gill was arrested by RCMP a short time later and charged with murder. Jurors also heard that Gill later pleaded guilty to stealing Vicker’s truck and trailer and the murder charge was withdrawn.

Tubrett, 48, is charged with second-degree murder for Vicker’s Dec. 29, 2011, strangulation at a home near 37 Avenue and 45 Street.

The jury earlier heard that Tubrett, Vickers and Gill had known each other in Newfoundland and had moved to Alberta to make some money framing houses.

The jurors heard Vickers arranged the framing jobs and Gill and Tubrett worked for him and the three men all lived together at the rented Mill Woods home.

In an opening statement, Crown prosecutor Shelley Bykewich said Vickers and Tubrett had gone to a neighbourhood bar on Dec. 28, 2011, and drank beer and played pool until about 11 p.m., when Tubrett returned home and Vickers went to another bar before also returning home.

Bykewich also told the jury that Vicker’s body was discovered in the basement by city police officers who had been contacted by RCMP in Fort McMurray.

A medical examiner earlier testified that Vickers died as a result of strangulation.

The Court of Queen’s Bench trial is set for three weeks.

tony.blais@sunmedia.ca

@SUNTonyBlais