An Alberta man accused of killing two Métis hunters had no selection however to shoot the boys to guard himself, his father and youthful brother, his lawyer informed a jury throughout his opening assertion.
Anthony Bilodeau, 33, and his father, Roger Bilodeau, 58, face two counts every of second-degree homicide. They've each pleaded not responsible.
The 2 had been charged after Jacob Sansom, 39, and his uncle Maurice Cardinal, 57, had been discovered lifeless in conjunction with a rural highway close to Glendon, Alta., about 215 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, on March 28, 2020.
Sansom was shot as soon as within the chest and Cardinal was hit thrice in his shoulder.
“There was most likely an angel trying down on him,” Brian Beresh stated Tuesday of his shopper, Anthony Bilodeau.
“And it takes the type of the CNRL video,” he added, referring to safety video footage from a gasoline station that exhibits the confrontation between the 2 sides the evening earlier than the our bodies had been discovered.
Beresh stated Anthony Bilodeau received a name from his father and youthful brother, Joseph Bilodeau, saying they had been following a pickup truck that had stopped on the driveway of their property earlier than rushing off.
Joseph Bilodeau, who's now 18 and was not charged within the case, testified final week that he had additionally seen a truck on his dad and mom' farm earlier within the day and suspected the one they had been following had one thing to do with it.
Beresh stated Anthony Bilodeau, who lived close by, was requested to deliver a gun for cover and meet up with his father and brother. He was nonetheless on the telephone with them a short while later when the truck together with his father and brother and the opposite truck stopped on the aspect of highway.
A person from the opposite truck punched within the passenger window of Roger Bilodeau's Ford F-150 after which tried to drag him out, together with Joseph Bilodeau, Beresh stated.
"Issues modified in a short time when through the name, he heard the shattering of glass after which his brother Joseph scream, 'Do not kill my dad! Do not damage my dad!" Beresh informed the jury.
"When he arrived on the scene, to his horror, he might see a person who seemed to be strangling or preventing together with his father, who was nonetheless partially within the truck."
Joseph Bilodeau has testified that he managed to get himself into the again seat of his father's truck by the point his brother arrived.
Beresh stated one of many first issues Anthony Bilodeau did when he received there was to inform the boys to cease preventing.
"Regardless of his try to de-escalate the state of affairs, issues received worse," Beresh stated.
The person who had pinned his father down within the truck then charged at Anthony Bilodeau whereas shouting to a different man to seize a gun so they might kill him, Beresh stated.
"In that brief time frame, which the video confirms, Anthony had no selection," his lawyer stated. "He responded to guard himself and his father."
Final week, Crown prosecutors argued that the killings had been on no account justified, because the safety footage additionally exhibits Anthony Bilodeau shot Sansom inside 26 seconds of arriving on the scene, then shot Cardinal because the hunter was strolling away.
Joseph Bilodeau additionally testified that he feared for his life through the confrontation with the 2 males, however he did not have any conversations together with his brother and father about calling police.
Anthony Bilodeau is predicted to take the witness stand Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Might 24, 2022.
Post a Comment