Video appears to capture sound of gunshots, 4 fleeing area where Moncton teen was shot

A jury in a Moncton trial watched surveillance video Friday that appeared to capture the sound of several gunshots followed by a group of four people running to a parked car. 

The video was played on the fifth day of the second-degree murder trial of Riley Robert Sheldon Phillips, 20, who is accused of killing 18-year-old Joedin Lloyd Leger in Moncton on April 25, 2022. Phillips has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The video was shown as part of the testimony of Linus Dunn, a resident of Moncton's north end who said he was driving along Logan Lane the morning Leger died.

Crown prosecutor Martine Cormier played three clips recorded from a camera on a building on Logan Lane just after 6 a.m. 

The first clip shows a vehicle stopping on Morningside Drive and four people walking east along Logan Lane before going out of view.

A second clip shows Dunn's vehicle driving east along Logan. He testified he saw the parked vehicle with its lights on and the four people and found it strange, so turned around. 

The third clip, recorded at 6:10 a.m., begins with what sounds like about five rapid gunshots. Seconds later, four people run west along Logan Lane to the parked vehicle. 

As the four get into the parked vehicle, Dunn's vehicle also reappears and follows the other vehicle as it drives off. 

'Something's not right'

Dunn testified he thought something odd was happening, so he decided to follow the vehicle, which he described as a four-door "dirty maroon" Honda Civic as it drove toward Mountain Road and ran a red light. 

He testified he took a mental note of the licence plate, and once he arrived at a Tim Hortons he wrote down the number on a piece of paper. 

"I went in, ordered my coffee, and then the RCMP started coming up," Dunn testified, saying there were a lot of police going by. "So, I'm thinking something's not right."

He drove back toward Logan Lane.

"On the lawn they had this person, and they were working on him," Dunn said. 

He testified he spoke to a police officer there, giving her the piece of paper with the vehicle's plate. 

Dunn said he couldn't recall what the people looked like, but said one of the four had a full-face motorcycle helmet on and another was wearing a red hoodie. 

The jury has already heard that Chantal Boudreau, Leger's girlfriend, called 911 at 6:11 a.m.

Responding police officers have testified about arriving at the scene about 12 minutes later and finding Leger outside his home on the ground, with two gunshot wounds, being treated by paramedics. 

Cormier told the jurors in an opening statement that the Crown expects to show a group of six people were carrying out a home invasion and robbery.

Cormier told jurors they wanted to take drugs, money and possibly vape products. 

The group, Cormier told the jury Tuesday, included Phillips, Hunter and Jerek England, Nicholas McAvoy, Hayden Leblanc, and a youth who cannot be named.

More video was shown to the jury Friday from homes on Churchill Street in central Moncton as Cpl. Robert Chiasson of the RCMP major crimes unit testified.

The videos shows a group of five people walking south on Churchill around 6:22 a.m., several minutes after the Logan Lane shooting.

Crown prosecutor Stephen Holt asked Chiasson if he knew how long it could take to drive from Logan Lane to Churchill. Chiasson said about five minutes, depending on traffic and speed. 

The officer said Hunter England lived on Churchill Street.

Chiasson's testimony is expected to continue next week. 

Also on Friday, RCMP Const. Michelle Cormier testified about seizing a .38 calibre revolver during a search of a Cornhill Street apartment during a 2023 investigation unrelated to Leger's death.

That revolver has been entered as an exhibit in Phillips's trial. The jury has heard that the revolver fired a bullet recovered from a body. The Crown told the jury in an opening statement that there will be evidence showing a bullet was recovered from Leger's body.

The trial that began Monday is expected to continue for another three weeks.