EDMONTON—An Alberta father and son have been convicted in the deaths of two Métis hunters who were shot to death on a rural road just north of the eastern Alberta village of Glendon.
Anthony Bilodeau has been convicted of second-degree murder in one death and of manslaughter in the other; his father Roger Bilodeau has been found guilty of manslaughter in both deaths. The jury began deliberating on Tuesday and took the single day to reach a verdict.
The trial centered on the night of March 27, 2020, when Jacob Sansom, 39, and Morris Cardinal, 57, were gunned down by Anthony Bilodeau, 33, after Anthony’s father and brother had chased the two hunters in their truck.
Both Anthony and his father, Roger Bilodeau, 58, were tried together in Edmonton on charges of second-degree murder. They pleaded not guilty in a trial that lasted about two weeks.
Anthony, a mechanic and farmer who lived in Glendon, and Roger, a father of nine who also lived in the village, had their lawyers argue that they acted in self-defense that night.
The Crown prosecutors argued that the two men had an attempt to kill.
Sansom and Cardinal were shot to death by Anthony after they were chased from Roger Bilodeau’s rural property by Roger and his 16-year-old son, Joseph Bilodeau. Roger thought Sansom’s truck looked suspicious.
The chase ended at the intersection of Range Road 484 and Township Road 622. An apparent physical altercation between the two parties was captured on a nearby surveillance camera.
Anthony Bilodeau was told by his father over the phone to bring a gun and help them because they’d caught who they believed to be thieves, court heard.
Anthony arrived and was at the scene for about 26 seconds before he fired the first shot, killing Sansom, who he believed was trying to grab his gun. Anthony also testified he heard over the phone threats against his father and brother’s lives.
Cardinal, who appeared to have pointed a gun at Anthony after Sansom was shot, was shot three times by Anthony. The two hunters were left on the road for hours until a local resident found their bodies early the next morning and called the police.
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