Judge reserves decision in manslaughter trial

Jun 19, 2013 | 2:52 PM

The fate of a man accused in the April 2010 shooting death of Virgil Pelletier in Prince Albert is now in the hands of judge.

Spencer Dean Bird is on trial for manslaughter. Bird and two men were arrested April 10 on the Mistiwasis First Nation two days after Pelletier was found dead in a home in the 600 block of Sixth Avenue East.

The last defense witness to take the stand Wednesday was Bird’s ex-wife Joyce Sayese. She told court she met Joan Pelletier in the fall of 2009 and had gotten to know her over time.

She testified that Joan Pelletier, the victim’s sister, had met Bird many times in early 2010 and even called to invite him to her home a few times.

This contradicted Joan Pelletier’s testimony on Tuesday where she stated she had never met or seen Bird before the murder of her brother. She told the court the men burst into her home and denied ever letting them in willingly.

Crown prosecutor Shawn Blackman attempted to poke holes in Sayese’s testimony suggesting she could be stating she didn’t know Bird personally but had met him before.

The trial moved into final arguments Wednesday afternoon.

Bird was originally charged with second-degree murder, but the crown suggested moving forward with manslaughter citing inconsistencies in Bird’s statements.

In several statements, Blackman said Bird had stated a different number of people for the group that had visited the home of Joan Pelletier where Virgil Pelletier was staying the morning he was murdered.

Blackman cited another statement where Bird claimed to be the one to break the bedroom door where Pelletier was sleeping. That statement contradicted Tuesday’s testimony from Cheyenne Pechawis who said he was the one to kick the door in after he shot through it into the bedroom.

Blackman suggested Bird was not an innocent bystander. He pointed out even if he had joined Pechawis in going to see Pelletier as a mediator, he would have been aware that Pelletier’s reputation of violence and his long standing issue with Pelletier, would have lead to bodily harm to one or more of those involved.

Defense counsel Brent Little said there was no evidence of Bird ever handling the gun used to shoot Pelletier or that he had ever tried to instigate violence.

Little pointed to Cheyenne Pechawis’ testimony earlier in the trial where he said Bird had only agreed to go with him to see Pelletier under the stipulation that no weapons would be brought along and no one would be hurt.

“He was duped,” said Little. “Being tricked doesn’t necessarily make you guilty.”

Little also suggested the charge of manslaughter fell on the argument on whether Bird and Pechawis had broken into Joan Pelletier’s home or had been invited in

Pelletier’s testimony stated that the two had broken into her home while she was asleep on the couch, however Pechawis testified that she had let them into her home.

The judge reserved his decision until Friday.

jbowler@panow.com

On Twitter: @journalistjim