SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Emrah Bulatci told a packed courtroom Thursday that he panicked and went for his gun but didn't intend to kill Const. Christopher Worden when he shot him twice in the lower body.

Emrah Bulatci was in court for day 15 of his Supreme Court jury trial, yesterday. He is accused of killing RCMP Const. Christopher Worden, and told the court he only meant to shoot the officer in the lower body. - Cameron Ginn/NNSL photo

Worden died as the result of two subsequent shots to his neck and chest, a forensic pathologist told the court on Monday.

Bulatci, the man accused of killing Worden in Hay River in the early morning hours of Oct. 6, 2007, took the stand in his Supreme Court first degree murder trial. On the first day of his trial, Oct. 23, the 25-year-old tried to plead guilty to manslaughter but the judge rejected his plea.

Wearing a three-piece pin-striped suit with a purple shirt and tie, Bulatci addressed the court in a soft voice. His brow furrowed, he often fidgeted with his clasped hands.

Bulatci, who was born in Turkey but grew up in Edmonton and High Level, Alta. said he was leaving the residence in Hay River where he'd been selling crack cocaine when he saw Worden's police cruiser outside.

His two friends had already gotten into a cab but he went back into the house to get his gun, which he'd kept hidden in a vent in the floor. Bulatci said he didn't intend to use his gun, but didn't want to leave it behind. At the time of the incident, Bulatci was under a court order not to possess any firearms.

As Worden approached the house, he told Bulatci he was under arrest.

"He took a couple of steps toward me and I panicked and ran," Bulatci said.

He said Worden was pursuing him at a distance of around three metres, too close for him to throw the gun away undetected.

"I knew he was close and I could hear him," he said. "He was catching up and getting closer."

Bulatci said the semi-automatic handgun was in an inside pocket of his jacket. He reached for it and using two hands, pulled the slide back that puts bullets into the chamber.

"I knew I was going to get caught and that's when I grabbed the gun," he said.

When asked by Crown prosecutor John McFarlane why he was carrying a loaded gun if he didn't intend to use it, Bulatci said the "plan (not to use the gun) changed. I was not thinking right. I was going to get caught. I didn't want to get caught."

As defence lawyer Laura Stevens led him through the night's events, Bulatci testified he turned around and took a few steps backward before firing two shots at Worden.

"I shot low, at his legs. I thought it would slow him down and he'd stop chasing me," Bulatci said.

"I knew it would hurt him and I wanted to slow him down," he said under cross examination, adding he wasn't sure if he even hit Worden because the officer kept running.

After shooting Worden, Bulatci said he stumbled and fell face first into the ground, with Worden landing on top of him.

Worden, who stood at almost six-foot-five, was more than a foot taller than Bulatci.

"He jumped on me or fell on me," he said, adding the gun was still in his right hand but his face was pointing left.

Bulatci described the struggle and gestured with his arm from the witness box. He said he held on to the gun and Worden held his head down and pulled his right forearm behind him.

Then two shots went off.

"He stopped fighting with me. My ears were ringing. I didn't know what happened. I thought I was hit," Bulatci said.

"I pushed him off. I was panicked and scared and got up and ran," he said about the confusion following shots three and four.

"I knew he was hit. I didn't know if he was going for his gun. I just wanted to get out of there."

McFarlane tried to argue Bulatci feared the legal repercussions of getting caught with a gun and that he felt trapped after shooting Worden twice and finding himself close to a wire fence.

The accused kept insisting he didn't plan to fire the gun the third and forth time.

"I never intended to use it again," he said. "I don't know how it happened ... I didn't know where it (the shots) hit ... my finger was on it but I didn't intentionally mean it."

McFarlane also questioned Bulatci about his intention to shoot low, noting Worden was shot in the abdomen, more than halfway up his body.

Bulatci ran from the scene and said he stashed his gun in a nearby ditch filled with water. He threw away the outer part of his Columbia jacket before running to the airport where he'd parked his vehicle. He took off for Edmonton, stopping to pick up $13,000 in cash and three ounces of crack.

Members of Bulatci's family sat behind the prisoner's box. At times, two of them cried. Worden's family sat on the other side of the courtroom.

Bulatci admitted to buying a loaded .40 calibre Smith and Wesson handgun in Peace River, Alta., the same type of gun the court heard killed Worden. Bulatci said he wanted to have a gun because he was scared of other drug dealers, but didn't intend to use it.

Bulatci said during the week he was in Hay River, he spent most nights at Rachel Martel's house at 55 Woodland Dr. where he sold crack until the early morning hours, leaving to sleep elsewhere. He said he brought between nine and 10 ounces of crack cocaine, which he stored under a piece of driftwood near a bridge 10 km outside of town, returning to restock as needed.

Before the day's proceedings started, the judge warned the jury "to consider his credibility" and "not simply think he's the type of person to commit murder because of his disreputable life."