While cross examining one of two men accused of killing a pair of Métis hunters, a Crown prosecutor highlighted multiple discrepancies in the statements the accused gave police.
Crown prosecutor Jordan Kerr began his cross examination of Anthony Bilodeau with pointed questions about Bilodeau’s statement to RCMP on March 31, 2020.
“You admit it was March 27, 2020 you shot and killed Jacob Sansom and Maurice Cardinal,” Kerr asked Bilodeau, who replied he does.
Kerr then pointed out Bilodeau had three-and-a-half days to rest and speak with his family before RCMP approached him for an interview.
When officers interviewed him on March 31, 2020, Bilodeau denied knowing anything about the homicide northeast of Edmonton.
On that day, he told police he had returned home from work, put his daughter to bed and then gone to sleep at around 9 p.m.
“You had all this time to think of this and what you came up with was a false alibi, right?” Kerr asked.
“That’s correct,” Bilodeau responded.
On Wednesday, Bilodeau testified he was on the phone with his younger brother and father Roger who were chasing a vehicle north on a rural road. His father told him to join them and to bring a gun.
The family has said they assumed the people in the vehicle, which approached their property that night, had been coming to steal from them.
While there had been a recent increase in crime in the area, the Bilodeaus had never experienced a robbery.
Kerr asked whether Anthony understood that the people were no longer at the Bilodeau property when Anthony was told to show up.
“All they (Roger and the younger brother) had to do was turn off at your house and there would be no threat, right?” Kerr asked.
“That’s possible,” Anthony answered.
“In that phone call, Roger didn’t say: ‘These people have hit me’ or ‘harmed me,’ right?” Kerr asked.
“That’s correct,” Anthony answered.
“Your understanding was no one was applying physical force to them, right?” Kerr questioned.
“That’s correct,” said Bilodeau.
Kerr pointed out there were a number of places the Bilodeaus could have pulled over and ended the chase.
“You could have told him: ‘Dad, this is ridiculous. Pull over, we’re calling police,’” Kerr asked Anthony.
“I didn’t think of it at that time,” claimed Bilodeau.
On Wednesday, Anthony testified he brought a gun from his home safe. He said it was just for protection, but Kerr challenged that Thursday, saying Bilodeau picked a 3030 rifle “capable of killing.”
“It’s capable,” Bilodeau admitted.
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The Crown prosecutor also asked Bilodeau whether it was possible the people were upset because they had just been chased down a rural road.
“I believed that could be a possibility,” said Bilodeau.
Bilodeau admits he showed up to a rural intersection where his father and brother were stopped near the Dodge truck they didn’t recognize.
He claimed he could see one of the men choking his father and that he wasn’t sure whether that person had a gun so he quickly loaded his own rifle and got out of his truck with it.
Under cross examination, Bilodeau said he couldn’t see the man’s left side. He then demonstrated how he said the man was choking his father by bringing both of his hands to his own neck.
Kerr pointed out that, if both of the man’s hands were at Roger’s neck, it was not possible the man was holding a weapon.
“So nobody visible to you had a firearm,” Kerr said.
“That’s correct,” Bilodeau admitted.
“You’re the first person to introduce a gun to this situation, right?” the Crown challenged.
“Yes,” Bilodeau said.
“These men were responding to you producing a gun, right?” Kerr asked.
“That’s correct,” agreed the accused.
Kerr pointed out the man, Jacob Sansom, who then walked towards Anthony was unarmed and that he did not hit Anthony, touch his gun or show any kind of weapon.
He asked why Anthony didn’t fire a warning shot or shoot the man in the leg instead of directly in the chest.
“I didn’t think of it,” Bilodeau testified.
Bilodeau has testified the second man, Maurice Cardinal, then came at him with a gun and threatened to kill Anthony.
Kerr pointed out that man did not ever fire a shot that night which Bilodeau testified to.
Still, he admits he fatally shot Cardinal three times.
Court heard Thursday that Cardinal was found with no gun at his side. Instead, there was an unloaded one in the back passenger seat near where Cardinal had been standing.
An evidence photo shows the gun did not have a clip in it and that the clip was lying under a bag the gun was lying on top of.
Bilodeau testified he did not move the gun and that security video shows Cardinal never got up after being shot.
The accused admits he went home and cut up the rifle he used into “four or five” pieces, put it in a box then a garbage bag and then took it to the dump.
Anthony also admitted he took distinctive lights off his truck that night in an effort to make it less distinctive.
The defence’s case is expected to continue Thursday afternoon.
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