A murdered Dawson City man was shot twice at close range in the nearby gold fields on Aug. 28, 2003, Yukon Supreme Court heard Wednesday.

That man was Robert Truswell.

Truswell had been sitting on the driver's side of his truck when he was shot, said Sgt. James Gallant, an RCMP crime scene investigator.

Gallant could tell because of the way Truswell's blood was splattered in the vehicle.

There was blood sprayed onto the driver's side window, court was told. Blood was soaked into the truck's seat and pools of the fluid had collected outside the vehicle and inside a small toolbox that was on the truck's floor.

Gallant suggested one of the gun shots had hit an artery, based on how the blood had sprayed.

Laurel Gray, a Vancouver forensic pathologist, concurred.

After performing an autopsy on Truswell, she concluded he had bled to death within 10 minutes of being shot.

On Wednesday morning, the 12-member jury examined autopsy photos that showed the deceased had been shot in the elbow in a way that shattered the bone.

The bullet then travelled up and out of the arm and into his torso, breaking three ribs. It then passed through his lung and came to rest in his neck.

A second bullet had entered Truswell's left shoulder, shattering it, before travelling beneath the skin along his back. The bullet then exited the body just below Truswell's head.

The bullets entered the driver's side, said Gallant.

The bullet that entered the elbow had been fired from two to four feet away, testified Brian McConaghy, a civilian member of the RCMP who is a firearms expert.

He was able to make that determination based on how the pattern of partially-burnt gun powder had been spread on Truswell's arm.

The shot to the shoulder had been fired at a greater distance, as there had been no gun powder present, said McConaghy.

A third bullet had been fired and had exited the passenger window without hitting Truswell, said McConaghy.

While bleeding profusely, Truswell had tried to escape out the passenger side door, but he never made it, Gallant had concluded from the blood stains.

Truswell was found collapsed on the floor of his truck with his head resting on the passenger seat. The passenger door was slightly ajar.

Gray said Truswell had abrasions on his body from moving around in the vehicle.

As forensic experts told the jury all the details of Truswell's death, a sombre-looking George Kieran Daunt, who is charged with murdering Truswell, kept his eyes down on the table in front of him, occasionally taking notes.

Gallant said Truswell had appeared to be unarmed at the time of his death, as no firearm nor other weapons had been found in the vehicle. Nor were any weapons discovered in the immediate area.

Earlier this week, the court had heard that Daunt, 50, had seen Truswell driving away after he'd been shot.

A friend, Camelia Sigurdson, testified that Daunt had gotten into an argument with Truswell before the shooting and that Daunt was afraid of the 53-year-old Truswell.

The RCMP said Daunt was nervous about returning to the scene of the shooting shortly after the incident.

Sigurdson said this is because Daunt believed Truswell was still alive and that he'd be waiting there with a gun to get revenge.

Over the last few days, the court has heard testimony from Dawson residents who all say Truswell was known as a violent nuisance.

Truswell had a criminal record dating back to 1982. That was when he'd been convicted of assault causing bodily harm. The offence had involved Truswell hitting a man over the head with a two-by-four in Diamond Tooth Gerties gambling casino. That incident earned Truswell the nickname 'Two-by-four Bob'.

There was also a record of Truswell assaulting a police officer in Edmonton, but that charge had been stayed.

Years ago, a group of young boys stole Truswell's chainsaw and a book on herbs, court heard.

Later, one of those boys' families told police they were scared of Truswell, believing he might harm their child.

At one point, Truswell had tried to run the youth off the road while that youth was on a motorbike, court was told.

The RCMP had a record of Truswell saying there were unwritten rules in the gold fields.

He had told the boys' family that he could kill anyone who tried to steal from his property and throw the body into a nearby tailings pond.

The family had wanted Truswell's firearms to be taken away, but police didn't believe they had enough evidence to do so.

There was another incident where Truswell had deliberately hit a Dawson man's trailer with his vehicle, damaging the trailer's hitch.

In July 2003, police had received a complaint of Truswell harassing and threatening another Dawson man. That man had told police he was concerned about Truswell's mental health.

Over the years, Truswell had been found guilty of petty theft and taking a motor vehicle without consent.

For those offences, he received a conditional discharge, where he successfully served probationary periods, which means the offences did not appear on his criminal record.

Sigurdson's husband, Chuck, recalled an incident where he observed Truswell trying to beat up Chuck's brother and a friend because Truswell wanted them to give him $50.

Eventually, one of the men gave Truswell some money to get him to go away.

Truswell had even threatened to kill his own sister, who lives in New Zealand, court was told.

A native New Zealander himself, Truswell was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in jail for the offence. He never served the time because he returned to Canada.

Truswell's sister later told Dawson City RCMP Cpl. Daniel Gaudet that she thought her brother was schizophrenic.

When Gaudet investigated Truswell's death, he never checked to see if Truswell had been treated for any mental illness.

Chuck told the court that Truswell was known to steal mining equipment. Equipment had gone missing on Chuck's property, and, on a few occasions, he caught Truswell digging around for such equipment.

Sigurdson's husband told the court he had heard stories of Truswell shooting at people who had come onto his property and other rumours that Truswell had stabbed people or thrown rocks at them.

Chuck said if he and his wife saw Truswell in the streets, they would turn around and walk the other way in an effort to avoid him.

RCMP confirmed that the bullet found inside Truswell had been fired from Daunt's rifle.

Daunt hid the gun in the rafters of the Sigurdsons' garage.

Justice Ron Veale is presiding over the trial, which resumed today.