Pynn-Butler trial: 'Pressure tactics' used during witness questioning

Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Sgt. Stephanie Lagace dismissed allegations from the defence that she and another officer used pressure tactics during the questioning of a key witness while investigating Nick Winsor's 2011 shooting death.

Lagace was the first and only witness to take the stand at Philip Pynn and Lyndon Butler's trial on Monday, after a three day hiatus from court proceedings. 

Pynn, 28, and Butler, 24, are in their fifth week of trial. They are both accused of shooting Winsor and trying to kill Tom "Billy" Power. 

Sgt. Lagace testified that she and another officer arrested Allyson Hatcher, another Crown witness, in Conception Bay South on Dec. 2011.

You're basically asking her rapid-fire questions.- Mark Gruchy

During the three-hour interview, Lagace said Hatcher, who was Pynn's girlfriend at the time, was polite but not forthcoming with information.

While answering questions about the day after Winsor's murder, Lagace said that Hatcher told her, "I didn't let anybody into my house. Nobody was there." 

Police released Hatcher after the interview because they did not have reasonable grounds to lay a charge.

Hatcher was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact, namely helping Pynn escape, in August 2014 — nearly three years after her initial arrest. 

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"You're basically asking her rapid-fire questions, over and over," defence lawyer Mark Gruchy said, pointing to Hatcher's 2011 police statement. 

​Lagace said the interview was routine and is not considered to be an interrogation, adding that Hatcher was offered food and water, and they had pauses between the interview. 

"We challenged her on the information we knew," Lagace responded. 

Butler's lawyer, Jeff Brace, also pressed Lagace during cross-examination, suggesting that the RNC used pressure tactics on Hatcher to get her to talk. Lagace said that was not true.

Third man

Sgt. Lagace also questioned the alleged intended victim of a botched robbery, Billy Power, 12 hours after Winsor was shot.

Power gave a sworn statement that the third man who was in his garage and attacked him had tattoos on his neck and face. He also told police, according to Lagace, that he had seen the man on the news being, "led in and out of court."

Power told police on the night of the murder that it was Pynn who had pulled the trigger. However, Pynn's co-accused was not mentioned during Power's first police interview.

Months later, Power was called back to police headquarters, and he was asked when he saw Butler on the news.

This time, Power was not sure, "He looked like someone I might have seen on TV."

Power also back-peddled on another piece of information he had originally given police. He said the tattoos which he said were on the man's neck and face could have just been a mark, like a paint smudge.