Alberta Men Accused of Killing Hunters Took Law Into Own Hands: Prosecutor

Alberta Men Accused of Killing Hunters Took Law Into Own Hands: Prosecutor
Jake (Jacob) Sansom (left) and his uncle Morris (Maurice) Cardinal are shown in a handout photo from the Facebook page "Justice for Jake and Morris." (The Canadian Press/HO-Facebook-Justice for Jake and Morris)
The Canadian Press
5/26/2022
Updated:
5/26/2022

A Crown prosecutor says a father and son accused of killing two Métis hunters took the law into their own hands when they chased them on a rural road in Alberta, shot them and left them to die.

Jordan Kerr has told an Edmonton trial that Roger and Anthony Bilodeau thought the two hunters were trying to steal from them and wanted to kill them for it.

The Bilodeaus face two counts each of second-degree murder and have both pleaded not guilty.

Court has heard that Anthony Bilodeau got a call from his father and younger brother in March 2020, saying they were following a truck they thought had been in their yard earlier in the day.

In Kerr’s cross-examination of Anthony Bilodeau, he says Bilodeau should have told his father and brother not to pursue the truck and call police.

Kerr says Anthony Bilodeau instead got a gun and ammunition before catching up with his relatives and shooting Jacob Sansom and his uncle Maurice Cardinal.

Anthony Bilodeau says that he didn’t think about calling police at the time and wanted to find his father and brother in case they needed protection.

The Crown also says Anthony Bilodeau spent the night destroying evidence after shooting Sansom in the chest and Cardinal three times in the arm.

Bilodeau says that he cut up the gun, took some lights off his truck’s bumper and disposed of the items at separate dump sites.

He also says he lied when he initially told police he had not shot the hunters, because he feared going to jail for protecting his family.