Jurors hear Peter Khill in 911 call saying he feared for his life when he fired fatal shots

After firing two lethal shotgun blasts into Jon Styres,some of the first wordsPeter Khillspokewere a trembling explanation to a 911 dispatcherthat he pulled the trigger because he was afraid for his life.

Dramatic audio of the 911 call made moments after the fatal shooting of the First Nations man on Feb. 4, 2016, wasplayed in Ontario Superior Court in Hamilton on Wednesday.

"He was in the truck with his hands up, not like his hands up to surrender, but his hands up pointing at me,"the jury heardKhill tell the dispatcher.

Listen to the call.

"It was pitch black, and it looked like he was literally about to shoot me, so I shot him. I mean, I didn't want to lose my life so ..."

The 28-year-old is charged withsecond-degree murder and has said through his lawyer that he doesn't denyfiringthe shots that killed Styres.

Crown prosecutors previously told the court the 29-year-old member of the nearby Six Nations of the Grand River wastrying to steal Khill's 15-year-oldpickup truck on the night he was killed.

Khill has pleaded not guilty.

• Officer testifies Khill said he was a 'soldier' following training on the night Jon Styres died

The 911 call was initially made from Khill'srural Hamilton home by Melinda Benko, his girlfriend at the time andnow his wife.

It begins with hertearfully asking for an ambulance.

Benkosounds distraughtduring parts of the almost 15-minute call andseems to whimper as shetells the dispatcher:"I don't know if there was a weapon out, or what happened, but like he has he just wouldn't shoot unless something was seriously wrong, so that's why I'm just terrified."

Listen to the call.

Khill comes on the line later and tells the dispatcher thatthe victim was gasping so he tried to doCPR. He also saysit doesn't look like the man he shot was carrying a gun, although he did have "knives."

Benko testified incourt Wednesday that she was woken up that night by a "cold, loud, echoing bang" and was afraid someone had broken into the house.

"Pete, Pete, did you hear that?" she recalled saying, as she shook him awake.Then they looked and saw lights on inside the truck parked in the driveway.

I was hoping Pete would shoot first.- Melinda Benko, wife of Peter Khill

Benkotestified that she heard her husband gethis shotgun and head outside in just a T-shirt and boxers,while she stood frozen in fear at the window.

She rememberedbeing temporarily blinded by a flash of light, then hearingmuffled shouting before seeing sparks shooting out into the pitch-black night. She said seeing the sparks and hearing a loud bang caused her to "freak out" and call 911.

"I didn't know who shot ... Iwas hoping Pete would shoot first if he had to," she said from the witness box.

Wife worried about break-ins

Benko told the court the shooting happened just days after two separate incidents where she was home alone and heard loud beeping noises and grinding gearsas ifsomeone was trying to unlock the back door by using its keypad to punch inthe code.

• Prospective jurors in PeterKhilltrial questioned about potential racial bias

Bothtimes when she went to the door, she opened it to find no one was there.

Still, she said, it unnerved her so much that she toldKhillwhen he returned from a business trip and he changed the combination.

Khill's trialis being closely watched by members of the Six Nations of the Grand River, including Chief Ava Hill.

It raises many of the same legal issues that were involved inthe controversialtrial of the man accused of killingIndigenous man ColtenBoushie.

• Chief of Six Nations calls for Indigenous jury members as trial with echoes of Colten Boushie case begins

In that case, an all-white jury in Saskatchewan reached a not-guilty verdict

The jury in this case includes at least one non-white person.

The trial is expected run for three or four weeks and continuesThursday.