Fear turned to shock when murder accused realized he'd shot an officer, court hears

When two Ontario Provincial Police officers walked into Alain Bellefeuille's house, one calling his sanction and announcing they were police, Bellefeuille ne'er heard it, helium testified at his execution proceedings Thursday.

"If I knew they were police, I would've been relieved," helium said successful French of the events that took place May 11, 2023 successful Bourget, Ont. 

"I would've been confused, but I wouldn't person taken them to beryllium a threat."

Instead helium was panicked, helium said, and his heartbeat was ringing successful his ears. Someone was successful his location astatine 2:30 a.m., he saw they were holding thing metallic that looked similar a handgun, and helium thought helium mightiness die.

His response, helium said, was to commencement firing the high-calibre, semi-automatic athletics shooting firearm helium kept astatine the ft of his furniture successful usurpation of gun information regulations.

It was a ineligible firearm helium had a valid licence for, but it was equipped with an amerciable mag he'd modified truthful that it could hold much than 20 rounds instead of the permitted five.

There was thing helium had to bash to get the weapon acceptable to fire, Bellefeuille said. The information was off, and a round was already successful the chamber.

He told tribunal helium thinks helium fired 10 times done his chamber wall, based connected video footage from Sgt. Eric Mueller's body-worn camera.

Emotional time successful court

Bellefeuille pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and 2 counts of attempted execution astatine the outset of his bilingual trial in Superior Court successful L'Orignal, Ont., eastbound of Ottawa, successful March.

All his grounds is being fixed successful French nether questioning by co-defence counsel Biagio Del Greco, besides successful French.

It's an admitted fact that Bellefeuille killed Mueller, critically wounded Const. Marc Lauzon and wounded Const. François Gamache-Asselin when helium changeable at them.

In question is what helium was reasoning and when, arsenic good arsenic what his intentions were.

It was an affectional time successful the courtroom, and Bellefeuille appeared to outcry astatine times. On some sides of the astir afloat public gallery, immoderate of his relatives and supporters — as good arsenic those of the OPP officers and their colleagues — were besides sometimes successful tears.

'I saw the idiosyncratic connected the crushed was a constabulary officer'

After Bellefeuille's archetypal volley of shots, astir fractional a infinitesimal passed with nary gunfire.

Bellefeuille told court he was hoping the menace was over, but then 2 shots were fired successful his direction. He felt like a sitting duck, helium said, and erstwhile helium saw a airy determination successful the surviving room, helium fired toward it twice.

He saw idiosyncratic connected the level of the mudroom and moved toward them. Then helium saw a airy outside, and helium thought it was idiosyncratic equipped truthful he fired at them, helium testified.

Then Bellefeuille looked at the idiosyncratic on the ground and realized it was an officer.

"Immediately I'm successful shock. I don't recognize what's happening, the how, the why," helium said successful French.

"I was successful a nightmare. I thought I was successful a location penetration and past I realized I changeable a constabulary officer."

'I don't person power implicit my emotions'

When helium crouched implicit Mueller and said, "You f--ked with the incorrect motherf--ker, antheral ... Shoulda ne'er broke into my house. Sorry astir that," Bellefeuille told court he was talking to himself, and that helium wasn't thinking.

Asked what helium was atrocious about, Bellefeuille said it was "for what happened," adding that he was successful shock.

He said helium wanted to disarm Mueller, but erstwhile helium saw that the officer's handgun was inactive successful its holster, helium near it there. Bellefeuille took disconnected the body-worn camera due to the fact that helium didn't privation to beryllium recorded.

Asked why, helium said, "I don't know. I'm not definite why." 

"What were you feeling?" Del Greco asked successful French.

"I'm inactive successful daze and panic. I don't person power of my emotions astatine this point," Bellefuille testified.

He fired much shots outside, helium said, because helium thought constabulary mightiness support firing astatine him and helium wanted to bargain himself immoderate clip to think. He said helium fired below a airy that appeared to be attached to a vehicle, and that helium couldn't spot constabulary insignia on the car due to the fact that the airy was blinding him.

Del Greco asked who Bellefeuille thought was outside, aft he'd seen the constabulary insignia connected Mueller's vest.

"It had to beryllium police," Bellefeuille told court.

He called 911, and helium appeared to outcry connected the basal erstwhile audio of paramedics arriving was played. He told the paramedics the serviceman was inactive breathing and to hurry up, and helium testified that he remembered saying, "Hang successful there, buddy," and "Don't die, buddy."

After audio of his melodramatic apprehension by Const. Ionut Mihuta was played, Bellefeuille testified that helium understood the officer's affectional reaction, adding that helium wasn't successful his close caput either.

He said he ne'er wanted to termination anyone, particularly a constabulary officer, and that they could person had a family. 

Bellefeuille besides testified helium has nothing against constabulary and was adamant helium didn't cognize helium was shooting astatine them. Being liable for Mueller's decease and Lauzon's superior injuries is simply a large value connected his heart, helium testified, and helium would ever beryllium affected by it, careless of the trial's outcome.

Cross introspection by adjunct Crown lawyer Francois Dulude begins Friday.

Nervous and anxious

Bellefeuille began his grounds Thursday morning, saying helium was nervous and anxious to beryllium speaking successful beforehand of truthful galore radical aft his clip successful custody.

He said his begetter and uncle were hunters, and that his begetter and friends had taught him to shoot. He bought the SKS firearm for sports shooting astatine targets connected weapon ranges and successful the woods, and said the weapon wasn't allowed for hunting.

By 2023 he'd stopped sports shooting but kept the firearm strictly to support himself and the location helium was renting, helium said. He was owed to determination retired of astatine the extremity of May that year.

It was a large weapon susceptible of doing a batch of harm and scaring people by making a "big capable bang."

He bought a linear compensator to assistance the firearm shoot more accurately astatine agelong range. He added after-market rails and a scope with magnification and illuminated transverse hairs with adjustable brightness. The scope had nary nighttime imaginativeness capability.

Made magazines amerciable successful lawsuit of emergency

He had last loaded the weapon much than a twelvemonth earlier, keeping it astatine the ft of his furniture for speedy access. Asked by Del Greco if helium knew that was against harmless retention rules, Bellefeuille said helium took the hazard due to the fact that helium lived alone, had few visitors and "the information was precise tiny that thing would happen."

A person and his partner had been held astatine gunpoint, tied to chairs and beaten during a location penetration successful Kemptville, Ont., successful 2007 oregon 2008, and it made Bellefeuille deliberation it could hap to him, particularly successful his agrarian home. His location and conveyance had been robbed in Gatineau, Que., and successful North Gower successful agrarian Ottawa, he said.

He said helium modified the magazines for easiness of access, if necessary. "In an exigency concern I wouldn't person clip to reload the gun, so that is why I modified the magazine, to person much capacity. I had much than $10,000 in currency successful my location connected May 10, 2023."

He besides testified that helium bought a motion-activated airy for his structure astir 2 oregon 3 years earlier the shooting. In court, helium work a Home Depot merchandise listing for a structure airy helium said looked precisely the same, which could observe question crossed 150 degrees and up to 9 metres away.

The time before the shooting

After finishing enactment astatine a residence successful Orléans connected May 10, 2023, Bellefeuille cashed a cheque, went to a hardware store, past went to get state and 10 to 12 cans of Jack Daniel's whiskey mixed with soda. Court was shown a photograph of his room showing 2 level boxes of bare cans of the drink.

After moving errands and talking to radical astatine his caller residence astir his pending move, Bellefeuille drank with a person and past astatine home. He consumed astir 10 drinks betwixt 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. — a mean magnitude for him, helium testified.

He went to furniture successful his enactment apparel astatine astir 2 a.m. and fell dormant instantly — besides a mean occurrence for him when helium drinks and is exhausted, Bellefeuille said. Next came the fatal encounter.

Video from Mueller's body-worn camera played successful tribunal showed Lauzon repeatedly knocking connected the backmost doorway and model of the house.

Bellefeuille testified that the archetypal happening helium heard was his canine barking, followed by what helium described arsenic much of a "banging" dependable than a knocking. He didn't perceive voices, but saw what looked similar a flashlight.

"Immediately I thought it was an intruder who was trying to knock down my backmost door. It was 2:30 successful the morning, cipher announced themselves, cipher warned maine oregon called me," helium said successful French.

He did not look outside, helium told court.