Northside standoff suspect pleads not guilty
William Bruce Joncas, 46, of Fredericton, accused of menacing fellow tenant at Irvine Street apartment building with knife last month prompting major police response
A Fredericton man accused of assaulting and threatening a woman at his northside apartment building last month is headed to trial after denying the charges against him Monday.
William Bruce Joncas, 46, of Irvine Street, was arrested after a significant police response and standoff at 711 Irvine St. the afternoon of Oct. 15 after there was a report of a man brandishing a knife.
As a result, he was charged with assaulting Christine LeBreton with a knife, uttering a threat to her to cause death and/or bodily harm, uttering threats to cause death and/or bodily harm to police and possessing a knife for the purpose of committing an offence
Joncas appeared in Fredericton provincial court by telephone from the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre on Monday, and during that brief proceeding, he pleaded not guilty to all counts.
New Brunswick Legal Aid staff lawyer Edward Derrah was available to the defendant as duty counsel Monday, but Joncas rejected him, telling court he wants to hire local defence lawyer L.A. Henry as his counsel.
Judge Scott Brittain set the matter over to Nov. 27 for a case-management conference to see if Joncas is able to retain counsel and to schedule a date for his trial.
He remanded the defendant again until that time.
Sunfield Apartment Rentals, which owns 711 Irvine St., has moved to evict Joncas since the events of Oct. 15.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.