Juror dismissed at murder trial in death of OPP officer

A juror has been dismissed in the murder trial of the man accused of killing an OPP officer in Bourget, Ont. CTV’s Katie Griffin has more on this.

Warning: some may find details in this article disturbing

One of the jurors at the murder trial of a man accused of killing an OPP officer nearly two years ago was discharged by the judge Wednesday.

The reason for the dismissal cannot be reported because of a publication ban.

Fourteen people were selected to sit on the jury for Alain Bellefeuille’s murder trial that started in late March. The trial will continue with the remaining 13 jurors.

Bellefeuille has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.

It is not contested nor disputed that Bellefeuille caused the death of OPP Sgt. Eric Mueller and injured constables Marc Lauzon and François Gamache-Asselin when he shot them at his home in Bourget, Ont. in the middle of the night on May 11, 2023.

An “admission” stating that fact was read into the record Wednesday.

The jury will have to determine whether Bellefeuille set out and intended to kill the police officers who had been responding to the home for a wellness check after Bellefeuille’s neighbour called 911 reporting she heard a gunshot.

Bellefeuille’s lawyers maintain he thought he was firing at intruders. The Crown argues the officers were ambushed.

Dr. Charis Kepron, a forensic pathologist who conducted Mueller’s autopsy, testified that his official cause of death was “multiple gunshot wounds to the groin and right thigh.”

Kepron said a bullet perforated Mueller’s right femoral artery and vein.

Asked by assistant Crown attorney Louise Tansey what the impact of that would be, Kepron said it would lead to “rapid” blood loss and “produce incapacitation fairly quickly.”

Kepron testified some projectiles were recovered from Mueller’s wounds, including a bullet and multiple small metal fragments from his skin’s surface.

Kepron says it was clear there was “a very thorough attempt at resuscitation”

Earlier Wednesday, the defence wrapped up its cross-examination of OPP Const. Pierre Dubois.

He was one of the officers who responded to the home after the shooting and accidentally fired a shot from his carbine into the ground while they were conducting a search.

The trial continues on Thursday.