‘He said he got him’: co-accused testifies at Byron Bear murder trial

On the stand, Primeau described a confrontation he had the previous week with Bear and another man, who had asked where Oliver was.

“And then he sucker punched me and they began jumping on my head,” Primeau explained, adding when he awoke the next morning, he went to the hospital.

The following week, upon speaking with Oliver about why the two men were after him, Primeau said he was told it was a $1,000 debt.

On Dec. 7, 2021, Byron Bear was reported missing and his remains were found about two months later. (Prince Albert Police)

On the day of Bear’s death, Primeau recalled how he, along with Oliver, and Jackson Henry (another co-accused) had been at a friend’s house in the East Hill area, before Henry received a text message, asking them all to come to a home in Midtown.

After entering the home, and doing a bump of coke, Primeau, by way of the home’s security camera, said he observed a white Chrysler pulling up and two unknown men getting out.

The men were holding a jerry can and moments later the back door to the home was opened and Primeau stated he, along with Oliver and Kyle Burns then began firing their guns.

“He said ‘I got him’,” Primeau testified, referring to Oliver.

For his part, Primeau, who was armed a .22 caliber handgun, insisted he fired his eight to nine shots at a 45 degree angle and last February, after entering a guilty plea to manslaughter, received an eight-year prison sentence.

After the shots ended, and the scene was confirmed clear, Primeau and Kyle Burns exited the home and Primeau was the first to find Bear’s lifeless body behind the parked Mercedes.

Primeau, who also stated earlier in his testimony he and Bear had grown up in the same area, but did not hang out, acknowledged he knew right away it was Bear lying on the ground. He was then asked by Crown Prosecutor Shawn Blackman to describe what he saw.

“I just seen…. I don’t want to talk about it,” Primeau replied.

Afterward, Primeau recalled Raine Farrow kicking Bear once and then all the men went back inside the house and handed their guns over to Jackson Henry.

Primeau then called a cab and spent the night at a friend’s house. When asked if he later spoke to any of the other men, he said no.

“I’ve been in jail the whole time,” he said.

Back at the house, Bear’s body was tossed into the back of the parked Mercedes and driven to an area south of Rosthern. The vehicle was later recovered in Saskatoon and according to a police officer who testified earlier in the day, the car’s trunk reeked of gasoline and had multiple blood stains inside.

Earlier this month, after his own lengthy trial, Kyle Burns was acquitted of second degree murder and found guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter.

Daniel Oliver himself was among the Crown’s witnesses and maintained he never touched a gun or was in the car that drove to Saskatoon.

This contradicted testimony from other witnesses who said he was not only in the car, but that he was the one who suggested going that way as he had family in Saskatoon.When pressed further on the coincidence of where the car was found, Oliver denied any knowledge.

The trial has been adjourned to Wednesday morning, at which time Primeau will be cross-examined by Oliver’s lawyer Loree Richardson.

At the start of Tuesday’s testimony, Primeau stated he once considered Oliver to be like a brother, but then added he has no loyalty to him now or any of the co-accused, and was focused on his own healing journey.

Both Jackson Henry and Raine Farrow have pending court dates.

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell

by Nigel Maxwell

‘He said he got him’: co-accused testifies at Byron Bear murder trial

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