Man who wheeled body in barrel testifies about grisly scene

The trial continued for accused in the murder of Grant Norton. CTV London's Nick Paparella has the details on Friday's testimony.

Content warning: The following contains graphic descriptions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.

A man involved in disposing of the body of Grant Norton, had a close relationship with both the victim and the accused.

Joseph Hodgkin, 54, testified in a London court on Friday that he too was involved in London’s drug subculture.

A father of nine children, Hodgkin said the mother of one of his kids was the accused in this case, 40-year-old Ashley Bourget.

At the same time, he was friends with 59-year-old Norton, selling and buying drugs with him from time to time.

He testified that on July 7, 2020, he got an urgent phone call from Bourget in the middle of the night, “She [Bourget] just asked me to ‘come help come help.‘”

Hodgkin said when he got to her rear apartment at 20 Adelaide Street South, there was a grisly sight, “I saw Grant Norton wrapped in plastic. I could see his face clearly, he was not alive, his body was very stiff... kind of curled up in a fetal position.”

He went on to say, “I could see blood, he looked pretty beaten up.”

Hodgkin was told that Norton had gone over to Bourget’s apartment to complete a drug deal for crystal methamphetamine and fentanyl but then things changed saying, “She [Bourget] told me that he tried to rape her and that it got out of hand... she mentioned hitting him with a bat... taking her anger out on him.”

He later said, “She thought it was fun.”

When Hodgkin looked around the apartment he said, “There were a couple of cushions soaked in blood.”

Hodgkin said Bourget told him about a bounty on Grant Norton over his dealing with reputed Hamilton-area mob boss Pat Musitano who had recently been shot.

He stated, “She just said there was a million dollars on his head, it was a rumor going around for some time.”

Hodgkin went on to say, “She [Bourget] told me she needed to get him [Norton] out of the house and I knew where there was a barrel that was big enough.”

He then told Bourget, “I don’t want to be a part of this but at the same time you are my baby mama, I just don’t walk to walk away.”

The jury has seen surveillance video of Hodgkin wheeling the barrel on a lawnmower into a ravine near Jacqueline and Ada Streets in east London, not far from the home of the accused.

A year and a half ago, Hodgkin plead guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced.

Charged with first degree murder in this case, Bourget has plead not guilty.

The trial resumes next week.