An Alberta man accused of killing two Métis hunters had no choice but to shoot the men to protect themselves, his father and younger brother, his lawyer told a jury during his initial statement.
Anthony Bilodeau, 33, and his father, Roger Bilodeau, 58, face two second-degree murder charges each. Both have pleaded not guilty.
The two were charged after Jacob Sansom, 39, and his uncle Maurice Cardinal, 57, were found dead on a country road near Glendon, Alta, about 215 miles northeast of ‘Edmonton, March 28, 2020.
Sansom was shot in the chest and Cardinal shot three times in the shoulder.
“There was probably an angel looking at him with misfortune,” Brian Beresh said Tuesday about his client, Anthony Bilodeau.
“And it takes the form of the CNRL video,” he added, referring to security footage footage of a gas station showing the confrontation between the two sides the night before the bodies were found.
Beresh said Anthony Bilodeau received a call from his father and younger brother, Joseph Bilodeau, saying they were following a van that had stopped at the entrance to his property before speeding.
Joseph Bilodeau, now 18 and not charged in the case, testified last week that he had also seen a truck on his parents’ farm earlier that day and suspected that what was next had something to do with it. .
Beresh said Anthony Bilodeau, who lived nearby, was asked to carry a gun to protect himself and catch up with his father and brother. He was still talking on the phone with them shortly after when the truck with his father and brother and the other truck stopped on the side of the road.
A man from the other truck hit the passenger window of Roger Bilodeau’s Ford F-150 and then tried to pull him out, along with Joseph Bilodeau, Beresh said.
“Things changed very quickly when during the call, he heard the glass break and then his brother Joseph shouted, ‘Don’t kill my father! Don’t hurt my father!’ Beresh told the jury.
“When he arrived at the scene, he was horrified to see a man who appeared to be strangling or fighting with his father, who was still partially inside the truck.”
Joseph Bilodeau has stated that he managed to get into the back seat of his father’s truck when his brother arrived.
Beresh said one of the first things Anthony Bilodeau did when he arrived was to tell the men to stop fighting.
“Despite his attempt to escalate the situation, things got worse,” Beresh said.
The man who had caught his father in the truck then charged Anthony Bilodeau while calling on another man to grab a gun so they could kill him, Beresh said.
“In that short period of time, which the video confirms, Anthony had no choice,” his lawyer said. “He responded to protect himself and his father.”
Last week, Crown prosecutors argued that the killings were in no way justified, as security footage also shows that Anthony Bilodeau shot Sansom 26 seconds after arriving at the scene, then shot to Cardinal as the hunter walked away.
Joseph Bilodeau also testified that he feared for his life during the confrontation with the two men, but had no conversation with his brother and father about calling police.
Anthony Bilodeau is expected to take the witness stand on Wednesday.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 24, 2022.