Police error topples three murder cases

Homicide charges stayed against five defendants in three separate prosecutions arising from Jan. 2022 death of Brandon Patrick Donelan and Dec. 2021 death of Corey Markey

A Fredericton Police Force “error” brought three separate murder prosecutions against five defendants in two violent deaths in the capital region to a crashing halt Friday.

Three murder cases were brought before Court of King’s Bench Justice Richard Petrie at the Burton Courthouse on Friday afternoon for a previously unscheduled proceeding.

The Crown stayed murder charges Friday against several defendants who had been accused of killing Brandon Patrick Donelan, left, and Corey Markey, right. (Photos: Submitted)

Joshua John McIsaac, 35, formerly of Penniac, and Erica Lea Ann Blyth, 42, of Newcastle Creek near Chipman, have been in custody awaiting a jury trial on a joint charge of first-degree murder in the Jan. 28, 2022, death of Brandon Patrick Donelan, 27, in the Chipman area.

Also facing a joint first-degree murder charge in Donelan’s death in a separate prosecution were Devon Mark Hood, 27, and Matthew David LeBlanc, 31, both of Fredericton. Their jury trial had been scheduled to start in January.

And in a separate case, McIsaac and Travis James Snowsell, 28, also formerly of Penniac, were also awaiting a jury trial on a joint charge of second-degree murder in the December 2021 shooting death of Corey Markey, 41, in Fredericton.