Tech expert found conspiracy-theory, noise complaint videos in Fredericton shooter's hard drives

A technology crimes expert who looked at Matthew Raymond's personal devices found conspiracy theory videos and images, and videos of Raymond firing a shotgun and complaining about noise at his Fredericton apartment complex.

RCMP Cpl. Aaron Gallagher testified for the Crown on Monday that he examined thousands of photos and videos found on Raymond's computer, GoPro camera and an external hard drive.

Raymond, 50, has admitted to shooting Bobbie Lee Wright and Donnie Robichaud, then Fredericton police constables Sara Burns and Robb Costello at 237 Brookside Dr. in Fredericton on Aug. 10, 2018.

He has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, and his defence lawyers are arguing he was not criminally responsible for the crime on account of a mental illness.

Gallagher testified he also found pornography, and videos of Raymond biking around downtown Fredericton.

On one hard drive, Gallagher testified he found 500 images and 400 videos. About 430 images were in relation to a conspiracy website, where Raymond was taking screen captures and "doing numerology" using numbers such as 33 and 666. 

The jury watched a 30-minute conspiracy-theory video introduced by the defence.

The video on YouTube says demons communicate using numbers such as 33, 666 and 36. The narrator in the video explains how demons are "casting a spell" on people by using symbolism in Disney movies, social media, celebrity music videos and video games. The video also makes reference to "Masonic" symbolism and the Las Vegas shooting.

The court heard Raymond has done mathematical calculations using these "demonic" numbers in hundreds of screenshots as well physical notes found in his apartment. 

Gallagher testified this video was downloaded onto Raymond's computer in October 2017. He agreed with the defence that Raymond's calculations began after the video was downloaded, and that it continued into 2018.

Gallagher testified Raymond stopped using the computer on Aug. 4, 2018, six days before the shooting.

Gallagher also testified the creator of the video had emailed back-and-forth with Raymond, where Raymond complained to him about seeing "D"s and also boasted about his accurate shooting abilities.

'The kick is unreal'

Gallagher also testified he found multiple videos of Raymond firing a shotgun in the woods. Gallagher said Raymond tied the gun to his bicycle with a garbage bag.

One video shows Raymond wearing a hat, dark sunglasses, a black, long-sleeve T-shirt under a grey short-sleeve, talking to the camera. He props up a target paper onto a bush and takes three shots, then reacts to the kick-back of the ammunition.

"Wow, wow, wow," he says, looking at the camera. "This ammo is insane. What the heck? The kick is unreal. It wasn't supposed to have that much kick."

Gallagher said Raymond's computer was custom built and could not have been bought "off the shelf." He said within that computer he found and examined four hard drives.

He found a total of about 200,000 images and videos but said most of those were images downloaded by software so they would function properly. It's not clear exactly how many images or videos were downloaded by the user and how many came with the software.

One hard drive had adult pornography, Gallagher said.

Another hard drive had more than 3,000 videos. He said some of these were videos taken by Raymond in June and July of 2018, including some of him "using a shotgun" in the woods. Two were of Raymond in his apartment complaining about noise in the building.

The last hard drive had a total of 130,000 pictures and 2,600 videos. A lot of the user-generated content were GoPro videos of biking and nature.

The Crown is expected to wrap up its case this week, after calling 38 witnesses.

The court has heard from 14 police officers, eight residents of the apartment complex, a firearms expert, and seven nurses who treated Raymond at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital. A resident of a neighbouring building, the owner of a coffee shop where Raymond was a regular and a paramedic have also testified.

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