Officer testifies about videos examined early in double-murder case

An RCMP officer testified Wednesday that in the early stages of a double-murder case, he examined hours of surveillance footage and logged vehicles driven through two major Dieppe intersections.

RCMP Const. Michel Martel was the seventh Crown witness called in Janson Baker’s jury trial. Baker faces two counts of first-degree murder alleging he killed Bernard Saulnier and his wife, Rose-Marie Saulnier, on Sept. 7, 2019 in Dieppe. 

Martel testified he had various roles in the investigation, including seeking camera footage from near the couple's Amirault Street home. He also reviewed hours of footage from two City of Dieppe cameras that show intersections in the municipality.

One camera overlooked the intersection of Chartersville Road and Amirault Street, roughly a block from the Saulnier home. The other camera, on Dieppe city hall, showed Acadie Avenue and Champlain Street. 

Grey car stood out, officer says

Martel testified he examined footage starting from 12:01 a.m. on Sept. 7, 2019, to 7 a.m. that day, taking screenshots of “just about every vehicle.”

Those screenshots were printed and filled four binders, Martel said.

Crown prosecutor Brad Burgess asked if any vehicles caught his attention. 

Martel said a four-door grey sedan went through the Acadie and Champlain intersection without its lights on and drove through a red light. The officer didn’t say what time the vehicle went through the intersection. The officer alerted investigators about that vehicle. 

No further testimony was heard Wednesday about the significance of the vehicle. Jurors have already heard several references to a grey car. 

During the Crown's opening statement last week, the jury heard there would be evidence that Baker and another man, Zachery Trevors, drove to the Saulnier home in a Hyundai Sonata.

An officer testified Monday that a grey Hyundai Sonata, which had been reported stolen in Fredericton, was found abandoned in Moncton on Sept. 30, 2019. The jury heard it was found near where Trevors lived.

However, the vehicle was not initially searched or fingerprinted. Jurors were told by the Crown that when it was later searched, there was a CD inside that had Baker’s fingerprint.

Martel also testified Wednesday he had taken Baker’s fingerprints in 2016. A copy of those fingerprints were entered as a trial exhibit. 

Baker's defence lawyer, Brian Munro, questioned Martel about whether he had noticed any other vehicles, such as a black Infiniti, in the footage he reviewed. The officer responded he wasn’t sure the make or model of cars based on the footage.

Munro several times asked if the black vehicle could have been driven by another person investigated in connection with the homicides. The officer said he couldn’t tell who was in the vehicle.

Munro asked if the person he named, whose name cannot be reported because of a publication ban, was the subject of police surveillance as part of the homicide investigation. Martel said he had taken part in surveillance of that person.

As the cross-examination continued, the officer asked to refer to his notes so he could give more precise answers. 

The jury was excused, and when they returned were told that a legal issue had arisen in their absence. What happens in court without the jury present cannot be reported.

“Nothing for you to worry about,” Justice Cameron Gunn told the jurors, saying they would be sent home until Thursday morning, when the officer's cross-examination is expected to resume.