Appeal denied for Curtis Bonnell, convicted of murder in teen cousin’s death

FREDERICTON – A New Brunswick man found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his 16-year-old cousin has had his appeal rejected.

Curtis Bonnell asked the province’s Court of Appeal to overturn the conviction and order a new trial after he was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 25 years in the 2009 death of Hilary Bonnell.

His lawyer Peter Corey argued last April that the trial judge in his instructions to the jury should have related the evidence they heard to a possible finding of manslaughter.

Corey also said the trial judge erred by allowing text messages Hilary Bonnell sent before she died to be entered as evidence.

However, the three court of appeal justices were unanimous in their ruling, saying the trial judge properly instructed the jury.

Curtis Bonnell was arrested on Nov. 8, 2009, and the next day he led police to a remote site where the girl’s body had been buried.