Accused denies confessing to crime in letter

A man on trial for first-degree murder told an Edmonton judge that he didn't intend to implicate himself when he wrote in a letter that he was "out there and participated" when a 13-year-old girl was killed on a golf course.

Joseph Laboucan, one of two men on trial in Edmonton in the death of Nina Courtepatte, testified Wednesday that he wanted to write a letter to a girlfriend while he was under arrest about two years ago.

Speaking quietly during cross-examination, Laboucan denied charges from the Crown lawyer that the letter included a confession in one passage, where he wrote: "I was out there and participated."

When he was asked what participation means, Laboucan simply brushed off the question, explaining he just meant to say he was there when Courtepatte was killed.

"I didn't mean it that I physically touched her in any way," he told the court.

Laboucan testified at a voir dire hearing to determine if the letter and videotaped statements he gave police will be accepted into evidence for the trial, which is being held before a judge alone.

The judge is expected to hand down a ruling Monday on whether the letter and videotapes can be used.

Also on trial is Michael Briscoe, 36. Laboucan and Briscoe have been charged with the kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and first-degree murder of Courtepatte. Her bruised and bloody body was found on the Edmonton Springs Golf Course in April 2005.

Three youths have also been charged in Courtepatte's death, with one male pleading guilty and two teenage girls having yet to go to trial.