A jury found Anthony Bilodeau guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the shooting of two Métis hunters on a rural Alberta road.
They also found his father, Roger Bilodeau, guilty of two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
His lawyers had argued that the shooting was self-defense.
The Crown argued that the defendants took justice into their own hands when they hunted down Jacob Sansom and his uncle Maurice Cardinal, because they believed the hunters had been to the family farm before and were trying to steal.
Prosecutors said the shooting was not justified in any way.
“This is simply a case of taking the law into your own hands and it’s a case of tragic results,” crown counsel Jeff Rudiak told the jury during his closing remarks Monday.
“Two innocent men, Jake and Morris, didn’t have to die that night…these two guys did nothing wrong.”
Jurors heard that Sansom and Cardinal had been hunting elk before they were found dead on the side of a road near Glendon, Alta., in March 2020.
Sansom was shot in the chest and Cardinal was hit three times in the shoulder.
Jurors, who began deliberations around dinnertime Monday, returned verdicts Tuesday afternoon.
They found Anthony Bilodeau guilty of second-degree murder for shooting Cardinal and guilty of involuntary manslaughter for shooting Sansom.
The court heard that on the night of March 27, 2020, Anthony Bilodeau received a call from his father and younger brother, who were chasing a white Dodge pickup that they suspected had been on the family farm earlier that day.
Roger Bilodeau told his eldest son to meet them and bring a gun to protect himself, the court was told.
Anthony Bilodeau testified that his phone was still connected to his father’s Bluetooth speaker when he heard banging and glass breaking before his brother yelled for someone not to kill or hurt their father.
The court heard that Sansom broke the passenger window of Roger Bilodeau’s Ford F-150 with his bare fists and then allegedly attacked Joseph and Roger Bilodeau in the truck.
When he arrived, Anthony Bilodeau said, he shot Sansom because the man had charged at him. He also said that he heard Sansom call Cardinal to get a gun so they could kill him.
Anthony Bilodeau said he shot Cardinal after the hunter attacked him with a large gun. He said that Cardinal told him that he was going to kill him in retaliation for shooting Sansom.
Anthony Bilodeau testified that he could see that Cardinal’s gun had a magazine and he feared for everyone’s safety. He said that he shot Cardinal two more times in the back of the shoulder.
The prosecutor said the killings were illegal because there was no threat of violence when Anthony Bilodeau was told to bring a gun.
Rudiak said Anthony Bilodeau was the first person to pull out a gun and escalated the situation.
Brian Beresh, an attorney representing Anthony Bilodeau, told the jury to find his client not guilty because he had no choice but to shoot the two hunters.
Beresh focused on Sansom and Cardinal’s alcohol levels. A toxicology report showed Sansom’s blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit for driving, while Cardinal’s was nearly twice the limit. The prosecution said that was not relevant to the case.
The court also heard that after the shooting, Anthony Bilodeau cut up his gun and dumped it in a landfill. He also disposed of his bumper lights in another landfill. He testified that he did it because he was in shock and didn’t want to go to jail to protect the family from him.
Shawn Gerstel, Roger Bilodeau’s attorney, said his client only followed Sansom and Cardinal to ask why they were in his yard.
“Roger’s actions that night were wrong, but not criminal,” Gerstel told the jury.
He said the Bilodeaus were on the phone for about 2 1/2 minutes before the shooting and could not have developed an “illegal plan.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 31, 2022.
Reference-edmonton.ctvnews.ca