Photo: The Canadian Press
Jacob Sansom (left) and his uncle Maurice Cardinal are shown in a photo of the brochure on the Facebook page “Justice for Jake and Morris.” THE CANADIAN PRESS / HO-Facebook-Justice for Jake and Morris
A jury has found a man guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the shooting of two Métis hunters on a rural Alberta highway.
The father of the man was also found guilty of two counts of manslaughter.
Anthony Bilodeau’s lawyers and his father, Roger Bilodeau, had argued that the shooting was self-defense.
The Crown argued that the defendants took the law into their own hands when they persecuted Jacob Sansom and his uncle Maurice Cardinal, because they believed the hunters had been to the family farm before and were trying to steal it.
Prosecutors said the shooting was not justified in any way.
“This is simply a case of taking the law into your own hands and it is a case of tragic results,” Crown attorney Jeff Rudiak told the jury during his closing remarks Monday.
“Two innocent men, Jake and Morris, had absolutely nothing to die for that night … these two boys did nothing wrong.”
Jurors learned that Sansom and Cardinal had been hunting for moose before being found dead on a road near Glendon, Alta, in March 2020.
Sansom was shot in the chest and Cardinal shot three times in the shoulder.
The jurors, who began deliberations at dinner on Monday, returned the verdicts Tuesday afternoon.
Anthony Bilodeau was found guilty of second-degree murder for shooting Cardinal and guilty of manslaughter for shooting Sansom.
The court learned that on the night of March 27, 2020, Anthony Bilodeau received a call from his father and younger brother, who were looking for a white Dodge van that they suspected had been on the family farm in the early hours of the day. .
Roger Bilodeau told his eldest son to meet with them and bring a gun to protect himself, he told the court.
Anthony Bilodeau testified that his phone was still connected to his father’s Bluetooth speaker when he heard blows and broken glass before his brother shouted for someone not to kill or injure his father.
The court learned that Sansom smashed the passenger window of Roger Bilodeau’s Ford F-150 with his bare fists and then allegedly attacked Joseph and Roger Bilodeau in the truck.
When he arrived, Anthony Bilodeau said, he shot Sansom because the man had charged at him. He also said he heard Sansom call the Cardinal to get a gun so they could kill him.
Anthony Bilodeau said he shot Cardinal after the hunter approached him with a large weapon. He said the cardinal told him he would kill him in retaliation for shooting Sansom.
Anthony Bilodeau stated that he could see that Cardinal’s weapon had an attached magazine and that he feared for everyone’s safety. He said he shot the Cardinal twice more in the back of the shoulder.
The prosecutor said the killings were illegal because there had been no threat of violence when Anthony Bilodeau was told to carry a gun.
Rudiak said Anthony Bilodeau was the first person to produce a gun and intensified the situation.
Brian Beresh, a lawyer representing Anthony Bilodeau, told the jury to declare his client not guilty because he had no choice but to shoot the two hunters.
Beresh focused on Sansom and Cardinal’s alcohol levels. A toxicology report showed that Sansom’s blood alcohol level was almost three times the legal driving limit, while Cardinal’s was almost double. The prosecution said this was not relevant in the case.
The court also learned that after the shooting, Anthony Bilodeau cut his weapon and threw it in a dump. He also threw the lights of his bumper into another dump. He stated that he did so because he was in shock and did not want to go to jail to protect his family.
Shawn Gerstel, Roger Bilodeau’s lawyer, said his client only followed Sansom and Cardinal to ask them why they were in his yard.
“Roger’s actions that night were a mistake, but they were not criminal,” Gerstel told the jury.
He said the Bilodeaux were on the phone for about two and a half minutes before the shooting and could not have developed an “illegal plan”.