Boris Panovski acquitted of 2014 murder at Hullett Conservation Area
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
Mere weeks before the 10-year anniversary of the murder of 70-year-old Don Frigo at the Hullett Provincial Wildlife Area, Boris Panovski, the man who was convicted in 2018 of the Sept. 13, 2014 murder, walks free after being acquitted in a St. Thomas courthouse.
Superior Court Justice Marc Garson acquitted Panovski, who is now 80 years old, on the charges of first-degree murder on Frigo and aggravated assault on his wife, Eva Willer Frigo. Jane Sims of the London Free Press reported that Panovski was critical of the Ontario Provincial Police in his case after his acquittal, saying they worked to keep an innocent man in jail while the killer was able to enjoy his freedom.
Panovski had indeed been jailed for nine years and 11 months. He was convicted in a 2018 jury trial in Goderich until a successful appeal that found the trial judge’s jury instructions to be unfair. As a result, Panovski was granted a new trial, which was moved to St. Thomas last year.
According to Sims, Willer Frigo’s eyewitness testimony regarding a glimpse of the shooter and the car in question were foundational to Garson’s decision to acquit. She reported that tire tracks at the scene of the crime did not match the tires on Panovski’s blue Toyota Corolla, resulting in that evidence being considered to be “concerning”.
“Am I suspicious? Absolutely. Do I think [Panovski] might have been involved in the shooting? I do,” Garson is quoted as saying in the London Free Press. “Was he in the area? He was. Am I sure he was the shooter? I am not.... Has the Crown proven his identity as the shooter beyond a reasonable doubt? They have not.”
Sims reported that Garson stated that the car described by Willer Frigo was more of a Nissan than a Toyota and that the police sketch, based on Willer Frigo’s recollection, looked like a younger, fitter version of the accused. This was in addition to the evidence surrounding the tire tracks.
The shooting, at the time, alarmed the community of the former Hullett Township. In the Sept. 18, 2014 issue of The Citizen, several Summerhill Road residents spoke about the shock of the incident and the nervousness that accompanied not knowing details about what had actually transpired at the Hullett Provincial Wildlife Area in the days following the shooting.
On the Monday night after the shooting, Central Huron Council expressed similar concerns, saying residents were starving for information because nothing was being made available.