Alain Bellefeuille, on trial for first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, has pleaded not guilty.
Warning: This story contains graphic and disturbing details that may be unsettling to some readers.
OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller was gunned down within seconds of entering a home for a wellness check, and as he lay on his back bleeding out on a mudroom floor, his killer leaned over him and said: “You f—ed with the wrong motherf—er … you f—ed with the wrong motherf—er, should have never broke into my house, sorry about that.”
These may have been the last words heard by Mueller, 42, as he lay dying and moaning in raw, agonizing pain.
These details and haunting scenes are captured on Mueller’s bodycam video and were revealed to the jury this week in the first-degree murder trial of Alain Bellefeuille. He’s on trial in L’Orignal for the deadly events on the morning of May 11, 2023 in the typically quiet village of Bourget, some 50 km from downtown Ottawa.
That he killed Mueller and shot Constables Marc Lauzon and Francois Gamache-Asselin is not in question, nor contested. Bellefeuille thought it was a home invasion, and fired blindly through the walls of his bedroom at the shadowy figures with flashlights and one with a pistol drawn, the jury heard. His defence lawyer Leo Russomanno told the jury his client was defending himself and it was anything but an ambush for Bellefeuille never called the police to his home and didn’t know they were police when they came in through his unlocked front door after being in a deep sleep after a day of prepping a drywall job out in Orleans.
The police theory, adopted by prosecutors and presented by Assistant Crown Attorney Francois Dulude, is that Bellefeuille, then 39, lied in wait only to open fire on Mueller and Lauzon seconds after entering his rural home at 2:33 a.m. on May 11, 2023.
On the horrifying bodycam of a dying Mueller, the prosecutor told the jury: “Mr. Bellefeuille will stare at you just as he stared directly at Sgt. Mueller as he laid bleeding to death in front of his very eyes. And you will see that gaze and hear those words because of this witness — this singular, irreplaceable witness — that stands as another testament to the carnage Mr. Bellefeuille perpetrated on Bourget.”
Some of the haunting bodycam footage was played in court Thursday, capturing the first volley of gunfire that downed Mueller and wounded Lauzon. Bellefeuille fires nine rounds blindly through his bedroom wall with a semi-automatic rifle. Mueller collapses and Lauzon is downed by bullets but gets up, his body vest still smoking from impact. The wounded Lauzon presses his back against a wall, his firearm aimed at Bellefeuille’s bedroom door.
Evening Update
Then, slowly, the nose of Bellefeuille’s rifle pokes out of his bedroom door, then disappears. The wounded Lauzon fires two rounds from his service pistol into the bedroom, then retreats from the house and collapses in the yard.
This is when Bellefeuille, long-haired and bearded with a black ballcap, leans over the dying officer and tells him he f—ed around with the wrong motherf—er, should have never broke into his home and then apologizes for shooting him.
It was at this point, right after leaning over the dying officer, on his back with a vest emblazoned with ‘POLICE’, Bellefeuille calls 911 for an ambulance.
At 2:37 a.m., Bellefeuille tells the 911 operator: “I shot a police, unfortunately he broke into my house.”
His defence lawyer said it was anything but an ambush and the only call he made was to 911 for an ambulance after shooting someone he thought was an intruder.
Mueller’s bodycam audio captures the conversation between Bellefeuille and paramedics, who were on standby down the road waiting for the scene to be safe before rushing in to help.
He disarmed himself and didn’t leave the scene, rather invited paramedics into his home, “Officer down, officer’s down right here.” He told them to hurry and repeated “come in, come in, he’s breathing still, he’s still breathing.”
The paramedics rushed out Mueller, and performed CPR in vain on the way to hospital where the father and husband was pronounced dead.
The deadly events of May 11, 2023 were first set in motion when a neighbour called 911 just after 2:00 a.m. She was concerned after hearing loud music, screaming and what she thought was a gunshot. She feared her neighbour had harmed himself. Bellefeuille never fired a gun that night until police came in through his unlocked front door, the jury heard.
The police called Bellefeuille, but it went straight to voicemail. Lauzon, captured by the bodycam of Mueller in tow, is seen getting out of his cruiser, and both responding officers circle around the back of the house with their shining flashlights.
Lauzon knocks repeatedly on the back door, which is close to Bellefeuille’s bedroom. You can hear Phoenix, a chocolate lab, bark inside. The police did not announce their presence at the back door. The officers then went to the front door, only this time they announced themselves after walking in for the police wellness check.
“Ah, Hello Alain — police. Hey there dog… Hello Alain, police!” Lauzon announces.
They had flashlights out, and Lauzon had his service pistol drawn. Mueller’s pistol never left his holster.
Bellefeuille, who has no criminal record, will take the stand in his own defence after the Crown — led by Louise Tansey, Francois Dulude, and Emma Loignon-Giroux — rests its case. The defence has no obligation to tell the jury in advance that their client will testify or not. Bellefeuille is not obligated to testify, but in this case the jury heard straight away they will hear his side of the story.
Russomanno told the jury Bellefeuille has been waiting in jail for almost two years to testify as an innocent man who was concerned about crime and the morning he thought he was under attack in a home invasion. He can’t escape the images of it.
“He will tell you that he believed there was an intruder outside at the back of the house,” Russomanno told the jury.
He noted that Bellefeuille had a valid firearms licence and retrieved his firearm because he was scared and feared for his life. He didn’t know they were police, wasn’t expecting them and certainly didn’t ambush them, which suggests he lured the officers to his home and lay in wait in a deadly surprise attack.
“The consequences of Alain (Bellefeuille)’s actions were devastating. He will tell you that it was the worst moment of his life and it haunts him to this day. He took the life of Sgt. Eric Mueller, and seriously injured two other officers. And it’s your job to determine whether the Crown can prove beyond a reasonable doubt, whether he is guilty of murder.
He said his client is innocent, did not set out to kill police officers and was reacting, in real time, to what he thought was a home invasion. He asked the jury to keep an open mind and to anchor their decision in evidence, without sympathy or prejudice.
After Mueller is downed in the first volley of nine rounds, Bellefeuille goes on to shoot outside, then from the mudroom, and the porch. His rounds hit cruisers. One officer who was struck never entered the home and was hit, either by a direct bullet, fragment or ricochet bullet, after taking cover behind a cruiser.
In all, Bellefeuille fired 17 rounds, killed one police officer and wounded two other officers.
Bellefeuille, on trial for first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, has pleaded not guilty.
The trial resumes Friday.
