Claude McIntosh
The trial of a Bourget man charged with killing an Ontario Provincial Police officer and wounding two other officers in the early hours of May 11, 2023 came to an end last week with a guilty verdict (murder and attempted murder).
And, as happens all too often in our legal system, the accused is presented as the ‘victim’.
The evidence was clear: Alain Bellefeuille fired 17 rounds from an illegal semi-automatic rifle at three officers doing a welfare check, killing Sgt. Eric Mueller, married with two young children, and nearly killing two others.
They never had a chance to draw their handguns. In fact, the accused took the gun still in a dying Mueller’s holster and placed it on his bleeding body, which the Crown said was so he could say that Mueller pointed his weapon at him.
He also removed Mueller’s body cam and threw it into a neighbour’s backyard.
Ah, but it wasn’t his fault, his lawyer told the jury in one of those ‘the devil made me do it’ defences.
His client, bless his soul, thought the trio of cops, in full uniform, lights flashing on their cruisers outside his home, were home invaders. They knocked on the door – didn’t barge in – and announced they were police officers (there to make sure he was okay after a call from a concerned neighbour). He opened fire. It was an ambush.
The jury was told, by the defence lawyer, that his client was not a monster, as the Crown made him out to be, but was a nice guy who thought he was protecting himself, acted out of fear and panic and was now living a nightmare.
Forget about the widow and two young kids. Forget about the wounded officer who almost died from loss of blood. Forget about the two surviving officers, their families and the horror they have lived through and will continue to live through.
It was suggested that one of the arresting officers got a free pass by not being charged or disciplined for punching the handcuffed accused at the scene. Boo-ho!
The jury didn’t buy any of it. He was found guilty and received a life sentence, meaning he will spend at least the next 25 years in the slammer.
The accused, portrayed as the nice guy who made a terrible mistake and is living a nightmare, was given the opportunity to address the court, a chance to speak to the families of the victims and tell them how sorry he was, and that he will carry the burden of guilt for the rest of his life.
He declined.
That said it all.
BACK IN JUNE 1938: A 21-year-old Lancaster man, awaiting trial on a murder charge, was captured in the north end of the city after walking out through the gate to the jail yard alongside a delivery cart. His break for freedom didn’t last long. Police arrested him after a resident reported a man in a jail uniform walking along the road about a mile from the jail. … A Detroit bootlegger was fined $100 and had his auto seized after provincial police working a check point outside Alexandria discovered 250 gallons of illicit alcohol hidden in his vehicle. The vehicle was custom-fitted with compartments for tins containing the booze. The vehicle had heavy duty springs. … A metal steel box containing $407 in cash (a small fortune in the day) and cheques stolen from the Champlain service station at 823 Montreal Rd. was discovered by two fishermen in two feet of water off Cornwall Island. It was unopened. The contents were not damaged. Two days earlier, the Parco service station east of Courtaulds was broken into and a small amount of money taken. … The operator of an illegal gaming house on the second floor of a store on Second Street East was fined $75 and five men found inside were each fined $10. City police made the arrests when they raided the establishment… A homeless 17-year-old man was given a month in jail for breaking into two Lancaster area cottages. He was looking for food and a place to sleep. … Two barns owned by Mrs. Fred Gould and Ellis Blair on Gloucester Street South were destroyed by fire and four nearby homes received minor damage. The fire was started by children playing with matches. … Cornwall Shoemakers’ Association asked city council to crack down on unlicensed door-to-door shoe sales people. … Sutherland Dickey, 32, of Newington, was appointed United Counties Jail governor. The governors’ residence was attached to the jail. … Emery Lebrun and Napoleon Bonhomme were hired as caretakes of East End and North End parks at $50 a year. … Mag. P. C. Bergeron ruled that a city bylaw that forced grocery stores and butcher shops to close on Wednesday afternoon was invalid. The next day council repealed the bylaw. … A poll showed that in Toronto five in seven women did not think it necessary for men to tip their hats in the presence of women. The gesture was seen as a display of good manners and respect for women.
REMEMBER WHEN: The 20-inch Philco black and white television set. … The roof-top television antenna and the remote on top of the set that moved the antenna back and forth to capture one of six available channels. … The TV repair man who made house calls and changed tubes and adjusted the horizontal. … Picking up taxi calls on the set and/or interference when the neighbour ran his table top saw. … Rushing home from school to watch Howdy Doody.
TRIVIA: A change in riding boundaries created the provincial riding of Stormont-Dundas-Charlottenburgh. It had been Cornwall-Cornwall Township-Charlottenburgh. In a unique situation, the new riding’s first election in 1999 had two incumbent MPPs on the ballot. Who were they?
TRIVIA ANSWER: Justin Bieber, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams were born in London, Ont.
QUOTED: The key to being a good manager is keeping the players who hate me away from those who haven’t made up their minds. – Baseball manager Casey Stengel
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