The court on Monday passed lengthy final arguments by Crown prosecutors and lawyers defending a father and son accused of killing two men who had been hunting near Bonnyville, northeast of Edmonton.
“We are nearing the end of this journey,” Anthony Bilodeau’s lawyer, Brian Beresh, began on the 10th of the second-degree murder trial.
“Through me this morning, he (Anthony) is asking for nothing more than that: apply the principles by which you live,” Beresh told the jury.
“Apply the standards to your case as you would like in your state.”
Read more: Alberta prosecutor points out lies while interrogating man accused of killing Métis hunters
Beresh said his client did not ask for sympathy, privilege or favor. The lawyer has stated that his client was acting in self-defense on March 27, 2020, when he shot and killed Jacob Sansom and Maurice Cardinal on a rural road.
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Bilodeau has admitted to pulling the trigger, but said he did so for fear of the lives of his father Roger and his younger brother.
The couple had chased Sansom and Cardinal down a high-speed country road, believing they were thieves planning to steal from Bilodeau’s property.
1:23 Alberta man says he was afraid for his family in a second-degree murder Alberta man says he was afraid for his family in a second-degree murder
Crown prosecutors have argued that both Sansom and Cardinal were found unarmed on them at the time of his death.
The Crown also noted that the Bilodeau could have turned around at any time during the chase and ended the incident peacefully.
“There are a lot of pieces of the prosecution puzzle that just don’t fit,” Beresh told the jury.
He has argued that Sansom and Cardinal were intoxicated and aggressive after a night of drinking.
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Beresh then compared his client’s experience to that of a Ukrainian refugee, suggesting that refugees arrive in the country with little preparation for what they are going through and that they are forced to make mistakes.
He suggested that his client was unprepared to deal with the scene he encountered that March night.
Bilodeau’s lawyer called for another global event when he addressed why his client did not call police at any time.
“He called the police in Uvalde, Texas and they didn’t help,” Beresh said.
The court heard that the RCMP’s response in the area could take more than 20 minutes by 2020.
Read more: Alberta man charged with second-degree murder by hunters says he fears for his family
Beresh told the jury that Sansom intended to cause serious injury or death, trying to prove that Roger Bilodeau was wearing the T-shirt that night.
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The neck of the T-shirt had been broken, and the Bilodeau claimed that Sansom did so while attacking the accused.
“If Anthony hadn’t arrived, Roger and (the teenage son) Bilodeau wouldn’t have survived that night.”
Beresh also argued that Cardinal was “the last threat that night.”
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He said the cardinal had the ability to stop the situation and not, and said the victim “had a murderous intent”.
The lawyer concluded his argument by asking the jury to declare Anthony not guilty of the two charges of second-degree murder.
1:13 Widow testifies at trial of father, son accused of killing Métis hunters in northern Alberta Widow testifies at trial of father, son accused of killing Métis hunters in northern Alberta – 17 May 2022
Roger’s lawyer, Shawn Gerstel, made his final statement.
He insisted that his client only followed Sansom and Cardinal to ask them why they stopped at the edge of Bilodeau’s courtyard that night.
Anthony Bilodeau testified that his father called him and asked him to carry a gun, but defense attorneys have said it was just to protect himself.
“Roger’s actions that night were a mistake, but they were not criminal,” Gerstel said.
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He blamed the victims and said none of the events would have happened if Sansom and Cardinal had not resorted to “extreme violence”.
Gerstel added that Sansom should not stop and could have turned and fled even after the Bilodeaux had stopped.
Defense attorneys have argued that Maurice Carindal pointed a gun at Anthony. He was found in the back seat of Sansom’s Dodge truck at the foot of Cardinal’s body. It was unloaded with the clip under the bag where it was lying.
Roger’s lawyer said the fact that the gun was not loaded or fired “was not that simple.”
He pointed out that there were bullets in the truck and that security was not activated when the weapon was found.
Gerstel also argued that his client had no intention of harming Sansom and Cardinal, saying Roger would not have taken his 16-year-old son if he had.
The lawyer noted that convicting the accused will not return the victims and instead asked the jury to declare his client not guilty of the two charges of second-degree murder.
1:11 Crown prosecutor ends trial for death of Métis hunters near Bonnyville Crown prosecutor ends trial for death of Métis hunters near Bonnyville
Crown prosecutor Jeff Rudiak said: “This is a case of taking the law into your own hands.”
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He said Sansom and Cardinal did nothing wrong.
It is clear, Rudiak argued, that Anthony shot the victims and that it was these shots that caused the death.
He told the court that Anthony is an experienced marksman who was able to load his weapon quickly and shot an unarmed Sansom right in the chest.
“Anthony is the one who increases this,” Rudiak told the jury.
“You don’t have to put a gun in a fight.”
The Crown also alleged that Roger was attempting to run over Jacob with his truck, which would be considered a demonstration of strength and possession of a weapon with a dangerous purpose.
Rudiak called the killings “unjustified.”
Both defendants sat motionless in the courtroom, each wearing a white button-down shirt and a dark blue sweater.
Judge Eric Macklin then gave instructions to the jury, including that the jury could only convict Roger Bilodeau of a crime for which Anthony also pleaded guilty.
All 11 members were abducted and will begin deliberations at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
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