Jury hears recording of accused in murder trial where victim was found in a barrel

Police interviews with the accused were played in a London courthouse on Monday, CTV’s Nick Paparella reports.

An 11 person jury sat and listened to an audio recording of a conversation that London Police Detectives Angela Johnson and Alan O’Brien had with Ashley Bourget in the hours after her first arrest in the summer of 2020.

When taken into custody, 40-year-old Bourget complained about not feeling well and was taken to hospital.

At first she seemed reluctant to say anything about how 59-year-old Grant Norton died in her apartment, but then she started talking.

She talked about Norton being a well-known drug dealer. She went on to say, “That guy tried to rape me on three separate occasions... I hate Grant.”

Bourget told them that she too was a drug dealer in London saying, “I sell drugs to feed my children, I don’t rob people.”

As to how Norton ended up at her apartment at 20 Adelaide St. South she said, “I think he came over to get some drugs and he had some cash... Grant needed dope and called me up.”

She then said that a group of men showed up to her apartment, with some of them being masked, stating that they were looking for cash before things turned violent.

Even though the court has heard that she attacked Norton with a baseball bat, Bourget pointed the finger at others saying, “He [Norton] was covered in garbage bags... It was Adam Wade okay? He was the leader of it.”

The accused told police that she was ordered to get out of the room saying, “I was told to go out... I knew it was scary, I knew I shouldn’t turn around, Grant was screaming, I think they beat him to death.”

She said that when she came back, “There was blood splattered all over the walls and ceiling and there was no body at all... they just left a big mess.”

Bourget who was tearful at times said she burned the couch in the backyard, replaced some drywall and painted the apartment because, “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life behind bars because of somebody else.”

After being reported missing for days, Norton’s body would be found stuffed in a large plastic barrel down a ravine near Jacqueline and Ada Streets in July 2020, not far from Bourget’s apartment.

Eleven months later Bourget would be charged with first degree murder and has pled not guilty.

Throughout the audio recording which lasted more than two hours, Bourget said she thought about taking off saying, “I went to the bus station and I was thinking of heading out to Vancouver... I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life running, I would never see my kids again.”

The Crown’s case resumes on Tuesday.