Close X
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
ADVT 
National

Raymond said killings 'not my fault': witness

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Sep, 2020 08:32 PM
  • Raymond said killings 'not my fault': witness

The accused Fredericton mass shooter said the deaths of four people in 2018 were not his fault, according to a paramedic student who accompanied the alleged killer to the hospital on the morning of the shootings.

Ceilidh Bowen, who is now a medical technician with the Canadian Armed Forces, told jurors Wednesday accused killer Matthew Raymond was loaded into an ambulance on Aug. 10, 2018, and appeared to have three broken ribs and three gunshot wounds in his abdomen.

Bowen said she heard Raymond mutter that people had been outside his window. "'They were taunting me. It's not my fault, they made me do it,' he said," she told Raymond's first-degree murder trial.

Raymond faces four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Fredericton Police constables Robb Costello and Sara Burns as well as civilians Donnie Robichaud and Bobbie Lee Wright.

On Sept. 15 when the trial opened, lawyers for Raymond acknowledged their client shot and killed the four people but said he is not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder.

Bowen told jurors that she didn't hear the accused killer say anything else during the 10-minute ride to the hospital. She said Raymond didn't appear to be in a lot of pain.

Police had shot the suspect through a window into his apartment.

Another witness, RCMP Const. Stephane Sabourin, introduced to jurors items that were seized from Raymond's apartment following his arrest.

The items included notepads and other pieces of paper covered in numbers. One note said, "Thanks Lord for your equal 87."

Other notes were inscribed with comments about things being moved around his apartment. "Someone or some persons were in my apartment with no notice," one note read.

The jury also heard from Brendan Doyle, who had owned a coffee shop in downtown Fredericton that Raymond frequented in 2017. He said Raymond would often come in for coffee, look at magazines about bikes or video games, and would chat with staff.

Doyle said as time passed, however, Raymond looked at fewer bike magazines and instead took a greater interest in magazines about violent video games and about firearms.

In June 2017, Doyle said he saw Raymond in front of city hall, wearing a sandwich board that read, "No Sharia Law" — which is also know as Islamic law. Doyle said Syrian refugees had been arriving into Canada during that period.

He said when he approached Raymond, the accused suggested he watch a number of online videos. Doyle said he was concerned Raymond would express his views to other patrons of his coffee shop so he suggested Raymond go somewhere else — which he said Raymond did.

MORE National ARTICLES

Study examines sexual assaults in post-secondary setting

Study examines sexual assaults in post-secondary setting
The study says sexual assaults in the postsecondary setting during that period most often took the form of unwanted sexual touching, which accounted for 86 per cent of incidents for women and 83 per cent for men.

Study examines sexual assaults in post-secondary setting

Champagne: talks continue but tariffs loom

Champagne: talks continue but tariffs loom
The list of potential targets includes goods such as appliances, drink cans, office furniture, bicycles and golf clubs.

Champagne: talks continue but tariffs loom

Trudeau cabinet meets as COVID-19 cases rise

Trudeau cabinet meets as COVID-19 cases rise
The past several weeks have seen a resurgence in COVID-19 across Canada after a summer lull, which Trudeau said is a reminder that Canada is "not out of the woods yet."

Trudeau cabinet meets as COVID-19 cases rise

WATCH: NEW WEST PIER PARK BURNS IN MYSTERIOUS FIRE | NO VACCINE BEFORE 2024

WATCH: NEW WEST PIER PARK BURNS IN MYSTERIOUS FIRE | NO VACCINE BEFORE 2024
Thank you to all of the hard working fire fighters at NWFD and other departments that worked hard all night containing the fire," tweeted City of New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote.

WATCH: NEW WEST PIER PARK BURNS IN MYSTERIOUS FIRE | NO VACCINE BEFORE 2024

Another psychiatric exam for accused in doctor killing

Another psychiatric exam for accused in doctor killing
Provincial court Judge Bert Skinner asked Mabiour a number of times on Monday if he had obtained a lawyer. The judge also noted that the accused has not been co-operating with staff at the Calgary psychiatric centre.

Another psychiatric exam for accused in doctor killing

Pandemic politics: It's election day in N.B.

Pandemic politics: It's election day in N.B.
Thanks to health and hygiene rules, there were no handshakes, no kissing of babies, no rallies and no community barbecues during the province's 28-day campaign.

Pandemic politics: It's election day in N.B.