Family breaks down in Newfoundland courtroom

GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR, N.L. – The family of a U.S. man who was shot dead while on a Newfoundland hunting trip cried as video footage of the body was shown Monday at the trial of the man’s wife.

Mary Beth Harshbarger is charged with criminal negligence causing death.

RCMP Cpl. Don Eady shot the video the day after the incident in September 2006. The video, which Justice Richard LeBlanc ruled admissible because it showed a better view of the area, included an extended close-up of the body, clad in dark clothing with a bullet wound in the abdomen.

Harshbarger’s father Leonard burst into tears at the sight.

So did the accused, hiding part of her face behind her hands.

The video marked the first time the Harshbarger family, which has attended each day of the trial, which began last week, had seen Mark’s body. Shortly after he died and was autopsied, his wife claimed the remains and brought the body back to the United States, where he was cremated.

The Harshbargers knew the video was coming, but seeing it was difficult, said Mark’s brother, Dean.

"I was prepared for it, but I just wasn’t prepared for the impact that it had," he said. "But it was something that we needed to see."

The Harshbargers had been hunting in Buchans Junction, in central Newfoundland, when Mary Beth Harshbarger, 45, of Meshoppen, Pa., shot her husband, claiming she had mistaken him for a bear.

Before the video was shown, the Grand Falls-Windsor Supreme Court trial opened with a witness via teleconference from St. John’s Dr. Nebojsa (Nish) Denic of Eastern Health, part-time chief medical examiner for the province, whose office performed the autopsy.

He testified that the bullet path indicated the deceased could have been bent and slightly forward. He said the victim could have been mistaken for a bear, given the poor lighting conditions. It is plausible, he said, Mary Beth Harshbarger thought he was a bear, with the lighting and the height of the tall grass.