Robert Truswell was a 'tough son of a bitch,' Dawson City resident Earl Haldorson testified in Yukon Supreme Court Wednesday.

'He never came out and said, I'm going to shoot you, Earl,'' said Haldorson.

But Truswell made it clear to many of the miners that if anything went missing on his property, he would kill the thieves and hide their bodies in a pond.

Haldorson received the warning at least once a year from Truswell.

Haldorson said most men believed Truswell's threat. Many miners are bachelors who people wouldn't miss if they stopped going into Dawson from the gold fields, he added.

Truswell was a notorious town bully until he turned up dead on Aug. 28, 2003, the court has heard.

The 53-year-old had bled to death after being shot twice.

George Kieran Daunt, 50, is on trial accused of the second-degree murder of Truswell.

Justice Ron Veale and the jury have heard that Daunt feared Truswell after Truswell threatened to kill him.

Andrew Sigurdson, who was with Daunt the day before Truswell died, said Daunt was acting unusually paranoid while Sigurdson helped Daunt clear off his land for the season.

That day, Sigurdson had bumped into Daunt at a gas station so he agreed to go up with Daunt to do the work.

The two rode up in Sigurdson's Pontiac Sunfire. While on the way up to Daunt's property, the pair passed Truswell talking to another man.

As the sports car drove by Truswell, Truswell stopped talking to look at them.

Sigurdson said he was driving slowly to avoid the potholes in the road.

'(Truswell) was staring at my car with an evil look,' said Sigurdson. 'It was a little out of the ordinary.'

Daunt slid back his seat so Truswell couldn't see him and explained to Sigurdson how Truswell wanted to kill Daunt over Truswell's father's will.

Sigurdson said Daunt seemed nervous and wanted to get away from Truswell as quickly as possible.

Even when the pair finally arrived at Daunt's property, however, Sigurdson still said Daunt seemed a 'little bit jumpy.

'He kept turning around quickly,' said Sigurdson, adding Daunt almost freaked out after a bird had caused some rustlings in the trees.

Haldorson suggested Truswell did drugs. He recalled one time when Truswell came over and asked Haldorson for drugs.

'You couldn't even find a bottle of Aspirin in my house,' said Haldorson, adding that when he told this to Truswell, the man still demanded drugs.

Haldorson said he was told to be wary of Truswell when he was coming down off the drugs.

The man also noted Truswell was quite strong and could carry two five-gallon pails full of gravel up an eight-metre ladder.

When Crown prosecutor David McWhinnie asked Haldorson if Daunt had talked to him after Truswell's shooting, Haldorson said he had.

'Yeah, he (Daunt) shot him. We didn't have to talk about it. We knew why,' said Haldorson. 'We all figured it would be the other way around. We figured it would be Two-by-Four (Truswell) with the gun.'

When McWhinnie asked if Haldorson knew of any other unnatural deaths in the Klondike, Haldorson recalled a young man's suicide. Harldorson suggested it was Truswell who shot the man.

'Why would a 22-year-old blow his head off out in the bush and leave no suicide note?' asked Haldorson.

Haldorson, who spoke loudly, had trouble staying on topic and told stories about another murder case and deaths on the Dempster Highway.

At times, while Haldorson was on the stand, he would laugh almost hysterically for extended periods.

One incident he laughed at was how Daunt's father, Ivan, had to stitch up his finger.

'I heard he was some kind of a doctor,' chuckled Haldorson.

While the man testified, some amused jury members tried to wipe away their smirks. Reporters in the gallery held notebooks close to their faces so nobody would see them laughing at Haldorson.

When Haldorson digressed to other topics, Veale gave McWhinnie questioning looks.

Defence lawyer Richard Fowler had no questions for Haldorson, who wasn't the only unusual witness of the day.

Gerald Bryde, who lives on Upper Bonanza Creek near Dawson, gave evidence Wednesday that contradicted what he'd said in the preliminary hearing last year.

At the trial, Bryde testified that he didn't know of the hit list Truswell had carved in the dashboard of his truck.

Fowler pointed out before the jury that at the preliminary hearing, Bryde had said he, himself, was probably on that hit list.

During the trial, Bryde said he could have heard people talk about the hit list, adding he likely heard about the list from Daunt.

When Fowler asked Bryde about a police statement Bryde had made on Aug. 2, 2003, Bryde denied some of the content.

The statement recorded Bryde telling the RCMP that he was fearful of Truswell's emotional and mental state of mind. Bryde also told police that Truswell was harassing him.

On the stand, Bryde said he didn't use the word 'harass', nor did he fear Truswell's emotional or mental state.

'I'm not afraid of man or beast,' said Bryde.

'Then why did you need police to help you out?' asked Fowler.

Bryde responded to Fowler's question with another question: 'Why get into a fight or an argument? Aren't police the peacekeepers?'

Fowler reminded the man that the lawyers are the only ones who get to ask the questions.

Bryde maintained he only told police Truswell was bigger than him.

'Sometimes I don't remember what I did yesterday,' Bryde said about his conflicting evidence. 'I have a very selective memory.... What's wrong with that?'

'No one suggested anything was wrong,' said Fowler. 'What are you worried about?'

Fowler continued to read from Bryde's past evidence that stated Truswell told Bryde when he found out who took his things he would make Bryde pay.

Bryde said he didn't know what 'make him pay' meant.

Fowler said he doubted that.

Truswell had freed Bryde's arm after it got tangled in some cable and a piece of machinery, court heard. Bryde said he probably would have lost his hand if it hadn't been freed.

The man had once shot at Truswell after a friend had awakened Bryde, telling him he heard somebody on his property.

Bryde got up and grabbed his shotgun and fired at what he thought was a bear. When he realized he had just shot at Truswell, Bryde went to the police to report the incident.

'We just thought it was really stupid,' said Bryde about what he and Truswell had thought about the incident.

Bryde recalled another incident where Truswell was angry about someone shooting up his property.

Truswell accused Bryde of stealing from his cabin. Bryde said Truswell thought it was him because of a dream he had.

Bryde told Truswell to leave, but when Truswell didn't depart, Bryde had to call the police.

Months later, Truswell accused Bryde and Daunt of teaming up on him, court was told.

After the shooting of Truswell, Bryde said Daunt was out in the community trying to lobby support for himself.

Bryde said Daunt approached him on his property and told Bryde he'd shot Truswell because he'd thought he had a gun.

'Robert didn't need a gun,' said Bryde, who doubted Daunt's story. 'I've never seen him with a gun.'

Several people throughout the trial testified they never saw Truswell with a gun. However, two witnesses testified that Truswell had shot at them over the years.

Over the last two weeks, the jury has heard numerous accounts of how Truswell terrorized Dawson residents. Daunt told friends he shot Truswell because he was scared for his life.

Many people testified that Daunt was a generous, helpful man who even lent a hand to Truswell occasionally in an effort to stay on his good side.

But yesterday, the court heard about another side of Daunt from Kent Jenkins, an American miner who has spent every summer in Dawson for the last eight or nine years.

Jenkins found Truswell on his property dropping off a pump for another miner.

Although Jenkins was wary of Truswell, having had his own encounters with him, Jenkins permitted the man to stay on his property and drink a cup of coffee with him.

The two were standing outside when someone dropped off Daunt.

'He seemed to have a good buzz going,' said Jenkins, adding he meant it seemed that Daunt had a few beers in him. 'He was pretty pissed off.'

Daunt accused Truswell of stealing some hoses and peanut butter. Jenkins told court there was a lot of screaming and chest-butting from Daunt.

Other Dawson residents say they also believed Truswell stole from them.

Daunt later apologized to Jenkins about having acted so unruly on the man's property.

After Truswell died, Jenkins asked Daunt what had happened after he ran into Daunt at the Bonanza Esso station.

Daunt said he saw Truswell reaching for something under his seat.

Jenkins described the shooting as a tragedy.

'I'm sorry that it happened. It makes us look bad as miners,' he said.

The trial, which began last week, continued today.