Murder suspects not ready for prelim yet
Lawyer for homicide suspect Devon Mark Hood, 26, doesn’t have disclosure of Crown file yet, and co-accused Matthew David LeBlanc, 29, hasn’t retained defence counsel
A first-degree murder prosecution was adjourned Wednesday without scheduling a preliminary inquiry because one defendant doesn’t have a lawyer yet and the other doesn’t have disclosure.
The RCMP’s major crime unit laid a joint first-degree murder charge in Fredericton provincial court Oct. 4 against Devon Mark Hill Hood, 26, and Matthew David LeBlanc, 29, both of Fredericton, arising from the Jan. 28, 2022, death of Brandon Patrick Donelan, 27, in the Chipman area.
Murder charges are automatically deemed to be directed to trial in New Brunswick in the Court of King’s Bench with a jury, and defendants are automatically remanded on such charges, though they can apply for bail at the superior level of court.
That means the next step in the case is to schedule a preliminary inquiry in provincial court to determine if there’s sufficient evidence to set the case over for trial at the higher level in the criminal justice system.
The case was back on the provincial court docket Wednesday to schedule the preliminary inquiry, but Hood’s counsel, Saint John defence lawyer Brian Munro, asked for an adjournment before scheduling the hearing.
“I haven’t seen the disclosure,” he said, referring to the Crown file containing the expected evidence against his client and his co-accused.
Court also heard that LeBlanc’s family is endeavouring to retain counsel for him through legal aid, and it’s expected that Moncton-area defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux might take on the case for that defendant.
Judge Cameron Gunn set the matter over to Nov. 15 to give Munro time to obtain and review disclosure and to give LeBlanc the chance to have counsel assigned to represent him.
He said the preliminary inquiry can be scheduled at the next appearance.
Both Hood and LeBlanc, in separate and brief proceedings Wednesday, appeared remotely by video conference from Dorchester Penitentiary, where they’re both serving sentences on unrelated matters.
The Hood/LeBlanc charge is one of two prosecutions making their way through the courts in the Donelan murder.
Also charged jointly with first-degree murder but on a separate information are Joshua John McIsaac, 33, formerly of Penniac, and Erica Blyth, 40, of Wasson Road in Newcastle Creek near Chipman.
A preliminary inquiry had been scheduled for April 2024 in Blyth and McIsaac’s case, but the Crown prosecutors’ office filed a directed indictment with the court earlier this month.
That’s a process that allows the Crown to skip the preliminary-inquiry phase of a case and proceed directly to trial.
Though nothing was mentioned of a similar plan in the Hood/LeBlanc prosecution Wednesday, it seems likely the Crown will take a similar tack in that case.
All four defendants in the murder are subject to court orders barring them from communicating with one another until the cases against them conclude.
Donelan was reported as missing to police Jan. 30, 2022, prompting a major search operation by the RCMP on the ground and in the air.
His body was found March 31, 2022, along a snowmobile trail.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.