EDMONTON — A lawyer representing an Alberta man accused of killing two Metis hunters says his client had no choice but to shoot the men to protect himself, his father and younger brother.
Anthony Bilodeau and his father, Roger Bilodeau, face two counts each of second-degree murder and have pleaded not guilty.
The two were charged after Jacob Sansom and his uncle Maurice Cardinal were found dead at the side of a rural road outside Glendon, Alta., on March 28, 2020.
Brian Beresh, a lawyer for Anthony Bilodeau, says his client got a call from his father and younger brother, Joseph Bilodeau, the night before saying they were following a pickup truck that they suspected had been at their farm earlier in the day.
He says Anthony Bilodeau was still on the phone with his father and brother when one of the men punched in a passenger window of their vehicle and tried to pull them out.
Beresh says his client arrived on scene to find someone fighting with his father before that man charged at Anthony Bilodeau and told another man to grab a gun to kill him.
He says that in that short time, Anthony Bilodeau had no choice but to shoot the two men.
Crown prosecutor Jordan Kerr has argued that the killings were in no way justified, as security footage from a nearby gas station shows Anthony Bilodeau shot Sansom within 26 seconds of arriving at the scene, then shot Cardinal as the hunter was walking away.
Sansom was hit once in the chest and Cardinal was shot three times in his shoulder.
Joseph Bilodeau earlier testified that he feared for his life during the confrontation with the two men, but he didn’t talk to anyone after about calling police.
