Killing Moncton teen wasn't planned, Crown's key witness tells jury

The Crown's key witness in a Moncton murder trial finished testifying Thursday after a week-long delay in the case, saying there was no plan to kill Joedin Leger. 

Riley Phillips, 20, is being tried by a judge and jury on a charge of second-degree murder. It's alleged he killed Leger, 18, on April 25, 2022, in Moncton. 

The Crown alleges Phillips was in a group of six people who planned to rob Leger and his girlfriend that morning. 

The witness who finished testifying Thursday has said he was among that group of six and said they didn't go to Leger's home planning to kill him. The witness cannot be named because he was under 18 at the time. 

His testimony began Oct. 16 but cross-examination was halted over a legal issue dealt with without the jury present. 

When he returned to the witness box Thursday, defence lawyer Brian Munro posed a series of questions about his character. 

Whether the jury finds the witness credible will be significant as he is the only witness so far to place Phillips at the scene of Leger's death with a loaded revolver. 

The witness testified he was outside Leger's duplex when Phillips went inside that morning. He said almost immediately he heard five or six shots. 

On Thursday, he said he believes the first shot sounded like a .22-calibre round based on his previous experience with guns. He said the subsequent shots sounded different. 

"They were louder, a lot louder," the witness said. 

The jury has previously heard that a .22-calibre casing was found in a homemade gun police found in Leger's duplex after his death. The witness has testified Phillips was carrying a .38 calibre revolver. 

The witness testified last week that Phillips emerged from the home saying he had been shot, but that he shot the person four times. Evidence in the trial has shown Phillips was later treated for a gunshot wound to his right hand. 

During Thursday's cross-examination, Munro had the witness review a series of statements he made to police, some to an undercover officer in jail after his arrest in 2022. 

The witness said there were multiple statements because he initially was reluctant to tell police everything he knew. 

"You're smooth, you're a hustler, do you agree with me?" Munro asked.

"I was," the witness responded. 

Munro asked if he knew how to trick people, with the witness agreeing, saying he manipulated and used people. 

"I'm a narcissist," he said. But, he denied lying to police.

'There's no deal'

Murno asked if he was using the police to try to get a deal, referencing how the witness was among those initially charged with first-degree murder in Leger's death. The witness said he was charged like the others, and pleaded guilty like several others in the case.

"I never got no deal on paper, there's no deal," the witness said.

The reference to other pleas in the case resulted in Justice Robert Dysart later instructing the jury that guilty pleas by others aren't to be considered during their deliberations about Phillips.  

The witness said he held back information initially from police because he was "on the fence about being the snitch." 

After Munro's cross-examination finished, Crown prosecutor Stephen Holt returned to why he decided to testify. 

"I wanted to do the right thing, I felt guilty," he said. "I was involved in a very serious offence, took a life of somebody who had a future … I wanted to own up to my mistake." 

He said Leger's family needed justice, to know what happened to him. 

The witness was the only one to testify Thursday. 

Testimony from another witness is expected Friday. Dysart told jurors that the Crown expects to call three more witnesses. 

"We're arriving toward the end," Dysart said. 

Jurors were given no further information about what led to the week-long delay in the trial that last week the judge described as a legal issue, and the details of that issue cannot be reported yet because the jury was not present at the time.