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HAMILTON — The very first words out of Peter Khill’s mouth after he shot and killed Jon Styres suggest he did so because he thought Styres was about to shoot him.

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The shooting happened about 3 a.m. on Feb. 4, 2016, on the muddy driveway of Khill’s home along a country highway just outside Hamilton. It was a black and moonless night with virtually no ambient light.

The 29-year-old Styres was a resident of the Six Nations Reserve not far away. Prosecutors have told Ontario Superior Court Judge Stephen Glithero and a jury that he was trying to steal Khill’s old pickup truck.

“He was in the truck with his hands up — and not like, not with his hands up to surrender, but his hands up pointing at me,” Khill told a 911 operator after his then-girlfriend, now wife, Melinda Benko, had called for help.

“It was pitch black, and it looked like he was literally about to shoot me, so I shot him … I, I mean I didn’t want to lose my life, so …”