Crown urges 1st-degree murder conviction

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This article was published 29/11/2011 (5286 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Crown prosecutor urged a jury to convict a 41-year-old man of two counts of first-degree murder Monday morning.

Crown Gerry Bowering addressed the jury about the accusations against Kelly John Clarke, who is on trial in the shooting deaths of Joel and Magdalena Labossière in their home in April 2008.

They were slain in their home on Chokecherry Cove as their one-year-old daughter lay nearby.

Bowering told the jury there is “overwhelming” evidence that exists against Clarke for the two counts of first-degree murder. That includes the crucial eyewitness testimony by Steven Solomon, a man who was allegedly with Clarke at the time of the shootings, and a sawed-off shotgun police recovered from Assiniboine River.

It also included surveillance from a store Solomon and Clarke had allegedly visited before the shooting, and dumped clothing police found.

“It was deliberate. It was planned. It was murder in the first degree,” said Bowering.

Magdalena Labossière was pregnant at the time of her death and court heard that Clarke allegedly used his gun to smash a window before going inside and killing the couple, with Solomon nearby.

Defence counsel Greg Brodsky focused on questioning the credibility of Solomon’s testimony, and urging the jury to acquit Clarke.

“There’s no link in this case of Kelly Clarke to that house,” said Brodsky.

Bowering told the court earlier in the trial that the double homicide in the St. Vital home was connected to a triple killing in a St. Leon farmhouse in 2005, where Fernand and Rita Labossière died alongside their adult son Remi. The three were fatally shot before the building was set on fire.

That case touched off a bitter family dispute over the couple’s estate, which still remains before the courts.

Solomon told the court before the killings on Chokecherry Cove he had driven Clarke to meet with Jerome Labossière — who is one of Fernand and Rita’s children, as well as Joel’s uncle — but the two had gone for a private drive without him. Jerome Labossière was charged in May 2008 with first-degree murder for their deaths, as well as three counts of conspiracy to commit murder, along with two other men, Michel Marc Hince and Jeremie Gerard Toupin.

Brodsky cautioned the jury that Solomon is not a reliable witness, pointing out the witness’ past criminal record.

“There is no case without him,” he said.

Solomon was not charged for his role in the deaths.

Solomon also didn’t discuss what happened the night of the homicide until he was under investigation by police for an unrelated matter, said Brodsky.

The trial resumes on Wednesday.

gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca