Prosecutors, across weeks of trial, have tried to portray Alain Bellefeuille as a monstrous cop killer who plotted and executed an ambush that had him lying in wait only to kill police at his rural home on May 11, 2023, defence lawyer Leo Russomanno told the jury in a closing address Tuesday.
The police call to Bellefeuille’s home was actually a wellness check after a neighbour thought he may have killed himself when she thought she heard gunfire, Russomanno continued. Turned out he didn’t, and was asleep after a long day’s work and a night of drinking when the police entered his home without announcing themselves outside.
OPP Const. Marc Lauzon entered first with gun drawn for the suicide call and said “Hello Alain, police. Hello Alain, police.” That was in the mud room and Bellefeuille was in his bedroom and grabbed his rifle out of fear, and after seeing a shadowy figure with a flashlight and gun drawn, Russomanno said. Bellefeuille crouched behind his bed and fired blindly through the bedroom walls at the armed intruders, killing one and wounding another.
It was 2:30 in the morning, and the only reasonable conclusion, after flashlights at the back windows and twice at the front, would be that intruders had just stormed his home, Russomanno told the jury. “This is how Alain Bellefeuille’s nightmare began. It became another nightmare, a worse nightmare when he realized he had shot a police officer.”
Bellefeuille is on trial for first-degree murder in the killing of Sgt. Eric Mueller, and attempted murder of two officers, including Lauzon.
Russomanno highlighted the gaps in the Crown’s case, the absence of evidence and notably — the absence of motive.
“Alain Bellefeuille is not a monster,” the lawyer began.
He said Bellefeuille was just a regular guy who worked hard. Had family and friends. Liked hunting and fishing. Had plans for the future. Had a dog. Had nothing against the police.
“The Crown couldn’t point to any motive Alain would have to harm the police,” Russomanno told the jury.
“Alain Bellefeuille lived through a nightmare. He will never stop punishing himself for what he did, regardless of the outcome of this case.”
That Bellefeuille killed Mueller is not in question, but his state of mind is and he says he acted in self-defence and out of panic, fear and confusion.
Russomanno raised the absence of evidence in the Crown’s ambush theory.
“Alain Bellefeuille had zero reason to expect police officers banging on his back door, or their presence at all. The absence of any such evidence is crucial,” Russomanno said.
He told the jury Bellefeuille didn’t have the luxury of looking back at the horrifying moments, frame-by-frame, like the trial did. There was no time to weigh options, in real time, after armed people entered his home at 2:30 a.m., particularly with a pounding heart and racing mind.
Responding police officers who took the stand had difficulty recounting details from the chaotic scene. Police were searching for wounded officers in the forest when they were already at the hospital.
Some officers warned about friendly crossfire and to be safe when searching. One officer accidentally fired their C-18 rifle in the search. The bullet hit the ground and nobody was wounded. That officer told court he forgot to mention it in his police duty book at the time.
It was hard for some of the officers to explain their logic during the events in question. One officer called it a “shit show.”
Most officers didn’t even know what the original call was about. There was no briefing, no talk about a plan and one of the original responding officers testified he didn’t know his fellow officers were going to enter the home until they did. He was the third officer on the scene, but didn’t go in. He took cover behind a cruiser when he heard the gunfire. He then ran into the woods and told officers over the radio he was being hunted down.
He wasn’t. Bellefeuille had put his rifle down and called 911 after he shot the police officer. He told the dispatcher he thought it was a home invasion and then told paramedics to hurry as the slain officer was bleeding out fast but still breathing.
The arresting officer ended up punching Bellefeuille about the head when he was cuffed and face down. Rifle trained at Bellefeuille’s head, the officer told Bellefeuille to make a move so he could shoot him. He testified that his emotions got the best of him because Bellefeuille had just killed his fellow officer and friend. The police officer, in full body armour with a C-18 rifle, said he was in fear.
And so was Bellefeuille. His defence lawyer said that only others, including highly-trained police, were seemingly given a pass for not being able to explain their actions.
“They had difficulty explaining the logic behind their actions. Alain Bellefeuille received no such allowances. His confusion, his despair, his fear, are all being sold to you as proof that he’s lying.
“The Crown suggests a diabolical scheme. An orchestrated cover-up,” Russomanno told the jury.
The defence lawyer also hit at the Crown’s narrative that Bellefeuille was just acting to cover up his actions, and that his words moments after the shootings were all theatre. When Bellefeuille called 911, he told the dispatcher he thought it was a home invasion. When Mueller was dying, Bellefeuille said sorry. When paramedics came, they had no police backup. Bellefeuille ordered them to come in, and told them to hurry because Mueller was still breathing.
When the arresting officer arrived later, Bellefeuille was unarmed.
Bellefeuille removed the dying officer’s bodycam but not before leaning over and saying he shouldn’t have broken into his house, then says sorry. Then, around the time he would have seen the police vest, he called 911, saying he didn’t know the guy he shot was a police officer.
The bodycam was found in the neighbour’s yard.
“Did he do everything perfectly? The Crown says this is indicative of murderous rage. We say it is the product of fear, panic, and being overwhelmed with the confusion of the moment, from thinking he was the victim of a violent home invasion to realizing that he had shot a police officer,” Russomanno told the jury.
The Crown will deliver its closing address on Wednesday.
