New charges laid in two different murders
Fredericton police file charges against Joshua John McIsaac, 33, and Travis James Snowsell, 25, in city shooting, while RCMP accuses McIsaac of role in Chipman killing
Detectives with the Fredericton Police Force and RCMP filed murder charges in provincial court Friday afternoon, with two men charged in the city homicide, and one of them in a separate investigation.
A year and a half after Corey Christopher Markey was shot and killed on Fredericton’s north side, the city police force charged two men with the murder Friday.
Joshua John McIsaac, 33, and Travis James Snowsell, 26, appeared in Fredericton provincial court Friday afternoon by telephone and were charged jointly with second-degree murder in Markey’s death.
Markey, 41, was shot just after 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 21, 2021, along Paul Street at Sitansisk (St. Mary’s) First Nation.
He was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries the night of Dec. 29, 2021.
Court heard both defendants are currently incarcerated at Dorchester Penitentiary.
In a rare and surprising development, the RCMP also charged McIsaac with another murder Friday, completely separate from the Markey case.
He now stands charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 28, 2022, death of Brandon Patrick Donelan in Chipman.
McIsaac is the second person to be charged in Donelan’s killing.
Erica Blyth, 40, of Wasson Road, was charged with first-degree murder last week and remanded.
Crown prosecutor Gwynne Hearn noted the charge the RCMP laid Friday was meant to replace the information filed with the court against Blyth last week.
Blyth alone had been charged with the killing last week, but the new charge names her and McIsaac jointly.
Though it’s alleged Donelan was killed Jan. 28, 2022, his body wasn’t found for a couple of months.
The RCMP launched a search of the Minto/Chipman area for Donelan, 27, after he was reported as missing to police Jan. 30, 2022.
In a news release last year, the Mounties reported his body was found in a wooded area near a snowmobile trail March 31, 2022.
Hearn asked the court to impose no-communication orders between McIsaac and Snowsell, and between McIsaac and Blyth.
Snowsell expressed surprise about that, noting he and McIsaac have been incarcerated together for some time.
“I’ve already been in jail with him for a year,” Snowsell told the court over the phone.
“We’ve been roommates for the past three months.”
However, he added he’s just been moved to “the hole,” referring to segregation, after being in the prison’s general population.
The prosecutor informed the court correctional officials are in the process of making new arrangements for Snowsell and McIsaac in light of the murder charge and request for no contact between them.
Judge Lucie Mathurin issued the non-communication order as requested, and scheduled Snowsell and McIsaac’s next appearance on the charges for July 26 to give them a chance to retain counsel.
“I think I can fit that in my schedule,” Snowsell said, evoking a laugh from the court and the prison official accompanying him on the other end of the line.
Blyth also made a brief telephone appearance in provincial court Friday so she could be advised of the new joint murder charge.
She’s represented by Fredericton defence lawyer T.J. Burke, but duty counsel Melinda Ponting-Moore appeared as his agent for Friday’s proceeding.
Blyth had been due back in provincial court Sept. 6, but Mathurin moved that date up to July 26 to bring her appearance in line with McIsaac’s.
As Blyth was last week, McIsaac and Snowsell were remanded pending the outcome of the cases against them.
Remand is automatic in murder cases, though defendants can apply to the Court of King’s Bench for bail if they so choose.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
Drugs, drugs,drugs.
I knew Travis, he was always a great guy. So sad to hear he got himself caught up in this. I'm so glad I got out of that lifestyle and cleaned my life up. Sorry to the family of the deceased, such a senseless crime.