Jury convicts Pensacola man of second-degree murder for shooting friend in back of head
After a three-day trial, a jury found a Pensacola man guilty Friday of second-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old Dillon Shanks in 2020.
Stefan Gislason, 30, was found guilty of shooting Shanks in the back of his head with "a disregard for his life" after a night of heavy drinking in his Durango Drive home on April 20, 2020.
When Gislason took the stand in his own trial Thursday, he said Shanks wanted to fight one of their friends while they were drinking in the backyard, so he asked Shanks to leave.
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Witnesses who were present the night of the incident reported hearing a shot after the men went into the house.
Authorities and the medical examiner said the fatal shot was in Shanks' brain, with the entry wound in the back of his head.
Gislason took the stand in his own defense Thursday evening and claimed Shanks had "charged him."
"I didn't want to (shoot him)," Gislason said while crying on the stand Thursday. "I never wanted to defend myself like that."
Even though Gislason testified he and Shanks wrestled and fought for the gun, he never explained why the entrance wound was in the back of Shanks' head or why Shanks was found on top of his clothes.
Assistant State Attorney Matt Gordon, the prosecutor in the case, told jurors in his opening statement that "The shot caused Dillon Shanks to fall forward on to an armload of clothing and personal items he was carrying at the time. He was carrying clothing because Stefan Gislason was ordering him to leave the house. Dillon Shanks was complying."
Previous testimony from law enforcement officers and detectives noted there was not enough time between Gislason and Shanks entering the home and the shot being fired for there to have been a struggle for the gun.
Gordon also noted Gislason lied to authorities by reporting Shanks killed himself, as well as lied about where he held his gun.
"At one point you told officers you carried your gun at your back," Gordon told Gislason. "Another time during an interview you told officers you carried it in a holster on your left hip. Now you're telling the jury something else — that you were carrying it in your pocket."
When asked which statement is the truth, Gislason replied, "I was carrying it in my pocket, sir."
Gislason chalked up the inconsistencies in his statements to "having so much going on" at the time.
After hearing two days of testimony, jurors entered deliberation early Friday and returned their guilty verdict to the court in less than three hours.
Shortly before 4:30 p.m. Friday, Gislason was back in the Escambia County Jail for the first time since his initial release in August 2020. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 1, 2022.
Benjamin Johnson can be reached at bjohnson@pnj.com or 850-435-8578.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola man Stefan Gislason found guilty of second-degree murder
