Lancet Jades
03-27-2004, 08:13 AM
Neighbour catches urine splasher in the act
Betty Ann AdamThe StarPhoenix
Friday, March 26, 2004
A Saskatoon couple mystified by the recurring stench of urine behind their garage used video surveillance equipment to catch their neighbour in the act of splashing a jug full of the putrid substance on the garage door.
Robert Kukura, 60, pleaded guilty to mischief in Saskatoon provincial court and was sentenced Thursday to one year's probation. He was ordered to pay $1,732 restitution to Wes and Heather Skakun for replacement of the garage door and the gravel pad behind it.
"I could understand if I had done something to bring this on myself, but I didn't do anything to initiate this," Wes Skakun told Judge Patrick Bell.
"An outhouse on the farm smells better than this," Skakun said in an interview.
Kukura's house, at 222 Michener Cres., is across the alley and one lot over from the Skakuns' in the west-end neighbourhood of Pacific Heights.
The Skakuns first noticed that snowmobile gasoline had been poured on the plants behind their fence sometime after Kukura was ordered to stop operating an auto body shop out of his home garage in 2002. They think he blames them for the city shutting down his business, but say they never complained about the operation in the 15 years he ran it.
Defence lawyer Darrel Soroka said Kukura was upset with his neighbours for starting up their noisy car at 3 a.m. and waking up his wife, who was ill.
The problem escalated in the spring of 2003, when the Skakuns noticed the foul odour around the wooden garage door, which faces the alley.
They estimate it happened six to 10 times in all. They noticed the smell was worse the day after Wes's weekly evening out at a sporting event.
The smell permeated the gravel pad behind the garage door, the door, plywood on a trailer they stored beside the garage and on a piece of carpet Skakun kept just inside the garage door.
The Skakuns sometimes found fetid puddles standing on the gravel. They think Kukura collected the urine in a four-litre oil jug and kept it in his sun-heated garage for many days between applications.
"He was saving it, letting it steep in the sun, then dumping it," Skakun said.
In early July, Skakun notified the police and began to gather his own evidence.
He bought a video camera and installed it to capture activity behind the garage and connected it to a VCR he kept turned on 24 hours a day for two weeks.
There wasn't enough light to identify the perpetrator on two incidents captured on video, but the audio portion caught a nearby gate opening, the sound of approaching footsteps and splashing, followed by footsteps going away, a gate being used and, moments later, Kukura's backyard light coming on, Skakun said in an interview.
Skakun then rented a higher quality video camera and installed four powerful outdoor lights, which he rigged to turn on with his remote control garage door opener.
The effort paid off when Skakun staked out the yard on a night he expected a visit. When he heard the dreaded splashing, he used the remote control to flood the alley with light, clearly capturing Kukura in the act and running to his home.
Betty Ann AdamThe StarPhoenix
Friday, March 26, 2004
A Saskatoon couple mystified by the recurring stench of urine behind their garage used video surveillance equipment to catch their neighbour in the act of splashing a jug full of the putrid substance on the garage door.
Robert Kukura, 60, pleaded guilty to mischief in Saskatoon provincial court and was sentenced Thursday to one year's probation. He was ordered to pay $1,732 restitution to Wes and Heather Skakun for replacement of the garage door and the gravel pad behind it.
"I could understand if I had done something to bring this on myself, but I didn't do anything to initiate this," Wes Skakun told Judge Patrick Bell.
"An outhouse on the farm smells better than this," Skakun said in an interview.
Kukura's house, at 222 Michener Cres., is across the alley and one lot over from the Skakuns' in the west-end neighbourhood of Pacific Heights.
The Skakuns first noticed that snowmobile gasoline had been poured on the plants behind their fence sometime after Kukura was ordered to stop operating an auto body shop out of his home garage in 2002. They think he blames them for the city shutting down his business, but say they never complained about the operation in the 15 years he ran it.
Defence lawyer Darrel Soroka said Kukura was upset with his neighbours for starting up their noisy car at 3 a.m. and waking up his wife, who was ill.
The problem escalated in the spring of 2003, when the Skakuns noticed the foul odour around the wooden garage door, which faces the alley.
They estimate it happened six to 10 times in all. They noticed the smell was worse the day after Wes's weekly evening out at a sporting event.
The smell permeated the gravel pad behind the garage door, the door, plywood on a trailer they stored beside the garage and on a piece of carpet Skakun kept just inside the garage door.
The Skakuns sometimes found fetid puddles standing on the gravel. They think Kukura collected the urine in a four-litre oil jug and kept it in his sun-heated garage for many days between applications.
"He was saving it, letting it steep in the sun, then dumping it," Skakun said.
In early July, Skakun notified the police and began to gather his own evidence.
He bought a video camera and installed it to capture activity behind the garage and connected it to a VCR he kept turned on 24 hours a day for two weeks.
There wasn't enough light to identify the perpetrator on two incidents captured on video, but the audio portion caught a nearby gate opening, the sound of approaching footsteps and splashing, followed by footsteps going away, a gate being used and, moments later, Kukura's backyard light coming on, Skakun said in an interview.
Skakun then rented a higher quality video camera and installed four powerful outdoor lights, which he rigged to turn on with his remote control garage door opener.
The effort paid off when Skakun staked out the yard on a night he expected a visit. When he heard the dreaded splashing, he used the remote control to flood the alley with light, clearly capturing Kukura in the act and running to his home.