Jury in Saint John murder trial sees threatening messages sent hours before shooting

Zakkary Reed was embroiled in a days' long fight with his fiancée — mostly via text and Facebook messages — leading up to the shooting death of Alexander Bishop. 

As they argued about drugs, self-harm and suicide, there were also at least five mentions by Reed about shooting Bishop. 

Transcripts of those messages were entered as an exhibit in Reed's trial, and on Monday his fiancée Alisha Malone-Robichaud was led through the exchange by Crown prosecutor Elaina Campbell. 

The messages began two days before Bishop's death and continued until a couple of minutes before he was fatally shot. 

Malone-Robichaud testified Monday that she had been doing meth for about eight hours, while Bishop's autopsy revealed that he had consumed cocaine, methamphetamines and fentanyl. 

She repeatedly said she didn't remember exchanging many of the messages with Reed. 

There were hundreds of messages exchanged — many indecipherable with typos — and many of them were angry and threatening. 

As the night of Aug. 19, 2023, turned into the morning of Aug. 20, the messages got more disjointed and angry and seemed less of a back-and-forth exchange and more one-sided rants from Reed and Malone-Robichaud, since long strings of messages would often go unanswered by the other person. 

Malone-Robichaud said her family didn't approve of Reed and didn't want her to have anything to do with him, so she was trying to hide her communication from family members. 

She described her mother as very controlling and said her mother even slept with her to ensure she didn't leave or talk to Reed. 

Yet, hundreds of messages were sent back and forth between Aug. 18 and 20, 2023. 

At least five times, Reed mentions Bishop by name and threatens to shoot him, according to the transcript.

About 45 minutes before the shooting, Reed tells Malone-Robichaud, "Im gomm ashoot bishop in the chets w a shotgun in 5 mimd." 

About five minutes later, he tells Malone-Reed that if she doesn't show up within 20 minutes, he's going to shoot Bishop.  

The last threat using Bishop's name is at 5:24 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2023. His messages to Malone-Robichaud stop at 5:35 a.m.

At 5:37 she tried calling but he didn't answer.

By 5:38 a.m., a security camera shows Reed walking away from 170 King St. East, where the shooting occurred, and at 5:39 the 911 call was made. 

Malone-Robichaud told the court that she's been engaged to Reed for three years and is still engaged to him. 

She identified Reed in a picture he sent her, which shows him with what appear to be bullets contained in a sash-like belt he wore slung over his shoulder. 

She also identified him in a video he sent to her before the shooting. It shows him with the barrel of a shotgun under his chin, asking, "Is this really what you want?" 

Malone-Robichaud spent the entire day under direct testimony and is scheduled to undergo cross-examination Tuesday morning.