EDMONTON — A man accused of shooting two Métis hunters is slated to testify in his own defence on Wednesday.
Anthony Bilodeau, 33, and his father Roger Bilodeau, 58, are on trial for second-degree murder in the deaths of Métis hunters Jacob Sansom, 39, and Maurice Cardinal, 57. The men were found dead on a rural road near Glendon, Alta., in March of 2020.
On Tuesday afternoon the Crown closed its case and Brian Beresh, defence counsel for Anthony presented his opening arguments.
Proceedings on Tuesday morning at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton were delayed after Justice Eric Macklin said two of the 14 jurors had tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, while another juror was sick and not able to come to court.
All remaining jurors were tested for COVID-19 on Tuesday morning, but the jury officer had a positive test result.
There are now 11 remaining members of the jury and if that number falls below 10 there will be a mistrial.
Anthony Bilodeau defence
On Tuesday afternoon, Beresh argued that Anthony's life changed in less than five minutes on March 27, 2020, after getting an alarming phone call from his father and his 16-year-old brother Joseph Bilodeau, as they were driving down a range road.
Roger and Joseph jumped in the father’s truck shortly after 9 p.m. on March 27, after seeing a vehicle pull up to the driveway of their family farm near Glendon, remaining there for less than a minute. The duo followed the truck and Joseph testified that they were just going to talk to the driver, to see what they wanted at their house.
As Roger and Joseph chased the vehicle that was on their property, sometimes reaching speeds of 152 kilometers per hour, Roger called his older son Anthony to ask him to bring a gun for self protection.
Beresh told the jury that Anthony had just arrived home from work for the night, put his eight-year-old daughter to bed, and then sat down with his wife on the couch to talk. At 9:47 p.m. his phone rang.
The son heard his father breathing heavy and he didn’t know why, Beresh told the courtroom, and Anthony jumped in his truck to meet with his father and brother.
“He responded to that call with only one intent. That was to make sure there was no trouble,” Beresh said.
During the call, Beresh said the son could hear the sounds of shattering glass as of of the hunters banged on the side of the truck, and then screams from his younger brother Joseph saying ‘don’t kill my dad.’
“When he arrived at the scene, to his horror, he could see a man who appeared to be strangling or fighting with his father who was still partially in the truck.”
Beresh said Anthony attempted to de-escalate the situation, asking the men to stop fighting, but instead one of the men charged at him, Beresh claims, while yelling to the other man to get a gun.
In the end, Anthony was left with no choice but to protect himself and his family, Beresh argued. The entire incident was captured on the camera of a nearby Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) site, next to where the incident took place.
Cardinal was shot three times in the shoulder, while Sansom was shot one time in the chest.
“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.”
Beresh also argued that during the incidents, Anthony was sleep deprived from working and helping with calving season. He was also concerned about rural crime.
Denies involvement
On March 31, Sgt. Christian Reister interviewed Anthony and asked him if he knew anything about the incident that left the two men dead.
"There was nothing out of the ordinary. We didn't hear anything," Anthony said, at the time.
Anthony said him and his wife went to bed and slept with the window open that night and didn’t hear any vehicles racing outside his window.
At the end of the interview, Reister asked if Anthony had any involvement in the events that night. He denied any involvement. Anthony said he would be willing to provide DNA and take a polygraph test.
