In Janson Baker’s trial for the double homicide of an aged couple, the protection introduced closing arguments to the jury on Wednesday morning in a Moncton, N.B., courtroom. Justice Cameron Gunn addressed the panel, stating, “You’re going to listen to from either side.”
Protection lawyer Brian Munro reminded jurors that they face some of the important choices of their lives. “It’s going to stay with you,” Munro mentioned. He thanked the jury for enduring a tense environment crammed with graphic particulars and pictures of the crime scene. “It is a pressurized surroundings. It’s not a film set. It’s not a TV present. It’s a solemn event,” Munro emphasised. He harassed the heavy burden on jurors to succeed in the proper verdict.
Munro acknowledged the brutal nature of the killings. “Bernard Saulnier was brutally killed. Rose-Marie Saulnier was brutally killed,” he mentioned. Baker faces two counts of second-degree homicide within the deaths of the 78-year-old Bernard and 74-year-old Rose-Marie Saulnier, who had been shot within the head inside their Dieppe, N.B., dwelling on September 7, 2019. Baker testified final week that he didn’t commit the murders. “You need to have proof past an inexpensive doubt. In the event you don’t have it, not responsible,” Munro instructed the jury.
Lack of Forensic Proof
A lot of the protection summation centered on the absence of bodily proof linking Baker to the crime. “The place’s the proof? The place’s the proof that he was in that home that evening?” Munro requested. “You received’t discover it.”
Zack Trevors, a buddy of Baker’s, testified that Baker drove him to the Saulniers’ dwelling in a silver Hyundai Sonata on the morning of the murders. Trevors claimed he noticed Baker enter the residence and shortly heard screams and gunshots. Munro identified that police examinations of the automobile discovered no blood splatter or DNA. “It’s not there,” he famous. Other than Trevors’ account, no proof locations Baker within the automobile on the time of the killings.
Prosecutors introduced pictures of Baker carrying a gold chain at 4:30 a.m. on the homicide morning; courtroom heard that Bernard Saulnier’s gold chain was stolen from his physique. Munro argued that the photographs, even when Baker appeared intoxicated, show nothing. Police totally processed the Amirault Avenue crime scene however uncovered no bodily proof in opposition to Baker. “There’s no bodily proof of any form in opposition to Janson Baker on this case,” Munro asserted.
Different Suspects and Motives
Munro highlighted the J-Trilogy operation, the place RCMP raided 5 New Brunswick properties, primarily within the Moncton space, on August 28, 2019. Jesse Logue confronted prices for weapons and medicines after his arrest. Munro mentioned Logue, his girlfriend Monique Boyer, Nick Bain, and Chris Lennon—names that surfaced repeatedly in testimony.
Jailhouse recordings and Fb messages revealed discussions in regards to the raids. Sylvio Saulnier, son of the victims, owned a Moncton duplex focused within the operation. Logue’s group suspected Sylvio of being a police informant. “They had been big-time gamers within the province of New Brunswick,” Munro mentioned. “This group had been ready to kill. These folks don’t idiot round.” Baker had no ties to Logue, Lennon, or Boyer however knew Bain via drug gross sales, which he described as purely enterprise.
Scrutinizing Witnesses
Munro urged jurors to judge testimony fastidiously. “Relating to Zack Trevors, reject all of it. It’s not plausible,” he mentioned, citing Trevors’ violent historical past and unrevealed connections to Bain by way of messages. Munro additionally dismissed a protected jailhouse witness who claimed Baker confessed, calling the account unreliable as a result of inconsistencies and credibility points. “There’s every kind of luggage with him,” Munro acknowledged.
The protection portrayed the murders as an execution-style hit requiring a specific mindset. “It takes a sure type of evil monster to do that. Mr. Baker will not be an evil monster,” Munro declared. He implored jurors to withstand trial pressures and acknowledge the prosecution’s failure to show guilt past an inexpensive doubt.
Baker attended in a gray jacket and tie, supported by household together with his mom. The victims’ buddies and kinfolk crammed the opposite aspect of the courtroom, attending day by day for the reason that trial started on January 6. The Crown delivers its closing arguments Wednesday afternoon.
