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Judge rejects defence argument that another shooter behind Eckville murder

Judge said not enough evidence to back other shooter theory
court-monday
(Advocate file photo)

There is not enough evidence to suggest a different shooter other than the man on trial for second-degree murder may have been behind a 2022 Eckville-area killing, a judge ruled on Monday.

Red Deer Court of King's Bench Justice Wayne Renke delivered his decision late Monday afternoon after a voir dire to determine if the defence would be allowed to argue the accused's girlfriend could be to blame for the fatal shooting of Stephen Pond, 46, in the early hours of June 20, 2022, just south of Eckville.

In a voir dire, a judge determines whether evidence is admissible and can potentially be entered into evidence in the trial.

Dustin Lemay-Storms is on trial for second-degree murder for firing repeatedly at the pickup Pond was driving with his wife by his side. Pond was hit in the head and died while being airlifted to an Edmonton hospital. His wife was uninjured.

In explaining his decision Renke said it was "essential" that there is a connection between the evidence and the third party being presented as the possible culprit.

Also, that connection must meet the "air of reality test." To meet that standard, it is necessary that a reasonable and properly instructed jury might find there was enough evidence to raise reasonable doubt that the accused was responsible for the crime, and that a third party could be involved.

Renke went through each piece of evidence the defence suggested raised the possibility of a different shooter other than Lemay-Storms.

The presence of another unidentified person's DNA, along with Lemay-Storms's, on the suspected murder weapon, does not support the third-party perpetrator theory, he said.

Lemay-Storms's DNA was also found on a cartridge box and the cartridges inside during an RCMP search of a property where the accused lived. The defence suggested other DNA on the cartridge box, which was found in a cow pasture, may have washed off.

The judge said while it was possible that happened, it is equally possible there never was other DNA on the box, so it offers no evidence to suggest another shooter.

Testimony from Lemay-Storms's uncle, who when asked by the defence admitted it was possible there were other people at his nephew's home around the time of the shooting but he could not be sure, also does not support a different shooter scenario, the judge said.

That Lemay-Storms and his girlfriend lived in close proximity in his home and presumably had access to the alleged murder weapon "does not provide sufficient foundation in the evidence to support an air of reality" that a third party was the perpetrator, Renke added.

As the evidence stands so far, the third party perpetrator argument can go no further, he said.

The trial that began on Jan. 6 is set for three weeks and continues Tuesday.

 

 

 



Paul Cowley

About the Author: Paul Cowley

Paul grew up in Brampton, Ont. and began his journalism career in 1990 at the Alaska Highway News in Fort. St. John, B.C.
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