Jurors in the trial of accused mass murderer Matthew Raymond have been shown more images and messages from the suspect’s computer hard drives that focused on demons and conspiracy theories.
Alex Pate, a lawyer with Raymond’s defence team, was back on the witness stand Thursday describing what was found on the computer of the man charged with the 2018 killings in Fredericton.
Raymond faces four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Donnie Robichaud, Bobbie Lee Wright and Fredericton police constables Robb Costello and Sara Burns on Aug. 10, 2018.
The jury was shown a steady stream of pictures of individuals and cartoon characters that Raymond allegedly identified on the computer as demons. Many showed entertainers giving the “devil horns” sign with their index and pinky fingers pointed upwards.
Other pictures and videos pointed to demonic symbols in Disney cartoons and in episodes of The Simpsons.
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Many of the pictures were accompanied by notes, allegedly from Raymond, that questioned whether the people in the photos were transgender. “They’re trying to determine whether the person is a man or a woman,” Pate said.
One picture included the caption: “The only way for a woman to be visible is for her to transform into a man.”
The pictures and images shown Thursday were from May, June and July of 2017. Some included numerology generators that assigned numbers according to letters in people’s names — often yielding the number 666 that some associate with the devil.
Other images identify people as Freemasons or Illuminati, with file names that include “evil, serpent, or devil.”
The court also was shown more videos that Raymond had downloaded from a conspiracy theory YouTube channel run by a man who identifies himself as Rob Lee. One video described President Barack Obama as “an evil, evil being,” and later showed what Lee said was President Donald Trump making the hand sign of the Illuminati.
Raymond’s defence team admits their client killed the four victims but says he should be found not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2020.
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