Saint John murder trial takes unexpected break, scheduled to resume Monday

Zakkary Reed's first-degree murder trial in Saint John has taken an unexpected break. 

When the 13 jurors arrived for the continuation of the trial on Thursday morning, they were told an issue had come up and they were sent away until 1 p.m.

The trial resumed for about an hour in the afternoon before the jury was told the trial would be adjourned until Monday morning. 

Justice Kathryn Gregory told the jury there was a "medical issue" with one of the trial participants. 

The reason for the adjournment was discussed at length in the jury's absence, so it cannot be reported until the conclusion of the trial. 

Gregory assured jurors that despite all of the delays so far, the trial is expected to be completed within the four weeks that had been set aside for it. 

Reed, 32, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Alexander Bishop, who was shot in the chest on Aug. 20, 2023, and pronounced dead at the scene, which was an apartment at 170 King St. East.

So far, the trial has heard from 25 Crown witnesses since it began on Jan. 6. 

In the brief time the court sat on Thursday, the jury heard more testimony from Sgt. Matthew Weir, an officer with the forensic identification services unit of the Saint John Police Force. 

Weir started his testimony Wednesday afternoon describing the process of collecting evidence from the crime scene, the victim, the accused, and various locations connected to the case. He also took pictures of all of the relevant locations and individuals involved. 

Weir explained that he took samples from the hands of Reed and Bishop and sent them to be tested for gunshot residue. The results of those tests have not yet been revealed in the trial. 

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Annie Maltais on Thursday afternoon, Weir said he wasn't aware of similar samples being taken from two women who were in the apartment at the time of the shooting. 

One of them, Hanna Graham, said she was in a back room with Bishop when Reed, whom she described as her best friend, walked into the room and shot Bishop in the chest with a shotgun. She said Bishop immediately dropped to his knees and then to the floor.

In a police interview that was played for the jury earlier this week, Reed said he had gone to the apartment to pick up his dog. He said Bishop wasn't happy with him showing up, pointed a gun in his face and told him to leave. 

Reed said he left in fear and heard a gunshot as he ran from the apartment. He said he thought Bishop fired at him. 

But Weir testified that he and another forensic identification officer did not find any weapons anywhere near Bishop. In fact, all of the weapons they did find were buried under "debris piles" and most were disassembled.