Accused denies turning rifle into a 'war machine' before firing at OPP officers

WARNING: This story contains disturbing written descriptions of violence and coarse language.

Alain Bellefeuille spent his second day on the stand in his own defence denying prosecution accusations that he hadn't fallen asleep at all the night he shot at three police officers, killing one of them, and that he'd turned his rifle into a "war machine" by loading it with an illegal magazine, among other enhancements.

"Did you tell the 911 dispatcher that it was the police who woke you up? ... Did you tell that to the paramedics? ... Did you tell that to the detective who questioned you for three hours and 55 minutes?" assistant Crown attorney François Dulude asked Bellefeuille during cross-examination Monday.

Bellefeuille replied no and that he didn't remember, before concluding that he hadn't provided that information. He testified he was trying to exercise his right as an accused person not to talk about what had happened.

Bellefeuille also denied Crown suggestions that he tried to hide evidence by removing Sgt. Eric Mueller's body-worn camera, and that he tried to remove Mueller's gun from his holster because he wanted to stage the scene to make it look like Mueller had drawn his weapon. Bellefeuille testified that he wanted to disarm Mueller.

Asked why he took the body-worn camera, he said he placed it in his pocket and that he didn't want to be recorded. Asked why he didn't want to be recorded, Bellefeuille said repeatedly that he didn't know why.

Bellefeuille is testifying in French under questioning by assistant Crown attorney François Dulude, also in French.

As he did on Thursday under chief examination by the defence, Bellefeuille said Monday that he woke up when he heard his dog barking. He reiterated he was convinced he was the victim of a home invasion, which he'd feared for years after friends of his experienced one.

He grabbed his rifle and crouched in the bedroom, listening intently in the dark for any sounds, he testified. 

But Bellefeuille didn't hear Const. Marc Lauzon and Mueller repeatedly saying his name and identifying themselves as police, or saying hello as they walked inside the front door with their flashlights.

Didn't ask who was there or call 911

Adrenaline was surging through him, he was more afraid than he'd ever been in his life, and he was hearing his heartbeat instead, Bellefeuille told court. He also testified that he was too afraid to look outside to see who it was, didn't ask who was there or threaten or warn them, and didn't call 911 using the phone on the nightstand (Bellefeuille said he didn't know where it was at that point).

"In that moment, I wasn't in the position to decide a best option. I feared for my life," he said in French.

Bellefeuille pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder at the outset of his bilingual trial in Superior Court east of Ottawa in March.

It's an admitted fact that Bellefeuille killed Mueller, critically wounded Lauzon and wounded Const. François Gamache-Asselin when he shot at them. In question is what he was thinking and when he repeatedly fired his rifle, and what his intentions were.

'My priority was to eliminate the threat'

After his first volleys of shots, Bellefeuille said his ears were ringing and his heart was still beating loudly, so he didn't hear Lauzon and Gamache-Asselin yelling outside. He said he was panicked and shocked. He said he knew Mueller was "severely injured," but didn't know he was dying and didn't notice the pool of blood forming in the mudroom.

Bellefeuille admitted that he realized Mueller was a police officer, but that it took him a few more minutes before he stopped firing. He said he was aiming at the ground when he fired more shots outside, near the bright takedown light on one of the cruisers. He said the light was blinding him, and that he couldn't see they were police vehicles but thought they might be.

"I was panicking. I didn't realize what was happening.... My priority was to eliminate the threat," he said.

"Your priority isn't the injured man in front of you, it's to eliminate a threat?" Dulude asked.

"I was still reactive, everything I was doing was reactive," Bellefeuille said.

'Talking to myself'

Dulude noted several moments in body-worn camera footage where Bellefeuille looked steady.

"You're calm. You're in control. You're not even shaking," he said. He also noted that Bellefeuille was so afraid of thieves that he kept a loaded firearm close to his bed, but left his front door unlocked.

"I didn't know, I was surprised [that it was unlocked]," Bellefeuille replied.

Dulude also focused on the moment Bellefeuille crouched over Mueller and told him: "You f--ked with the wrong motherf--ker."

"Those are extremely violent words," Dulude said.

"I couldn't tell you. It was like I was talking to myself," Bellefeuille replied.

Later on Monday, Dulude focused on a chunk of video in which Bellefeuille is heard screaming in English: "Break and enter, motherf--ker!" as Gamache-Asselin yells over the radio for an ambulance.

"Is this the reaction of someone who is afraid?" Dulude asked.

"I was talking to myself," Bellefeuille said.

"Is it the reaction of a person who is intimidated?" Dulude continued. Bellefeuille replied that he was afraid for his life.

'An arsenal ... at your disposal'

Bellefeuille admitted he had more weapons in his bedroom than pillows, and more ammunition in his closet than clothes.

"Between that weapon [his SKS rifle], the two knives and the ammunition, is that an arsenal you have at your disposal in your bedroom?" Dulude asked in French.

"It depends on the person's point of view," Bellefeuille replied.

"From your point of view, isn't it?"

"Yes," Bellefeuille said.

Bellefeuille's cross-examination is expected to continue Tuesday.