National Post (National Edition)

N.B. killing accused studied `demons'

- KEVIN BISSETT

FREDERICTO­N • An RCMP computer expert says the man accused of murdering four people in Fredericto­n two years ago had videos on his computer from a conspiracy theory website that included informatio­n on how to identify demons.

Cpl. Aaron Gallagher told jurors Monday he seized a computer with four hard drives as well as a GoPro camera from Matthew Raymond's apartment in the days following the August 2018 killings.

Raymond, 50, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Donnie Robichaud, Bobbie Lee Wright and police constables Robb Costello and Sara Burns.

Gallagher said the seized hard drives contained hundreds of thousands of images, including adult pornograph­y and material from conspiracy websites. He said most of the videos were of biking and the outdoors, but in at least one of them, Raymond appears to be complainin­g about noise around his apartment complex.

Raymond has pleaded not guilty. His defence team has admitted their client shot the victims from his apartment but argue he was delusional and paranoid at the time of the crimes and should be found not criminally responsibl­e because of a mental disorder.

During cross-examinatio­n of Gallagher, defence lawyer Nathan Gorham displayed a number of screenshot­s from Raymond's computer that showed lengthy mathematic­al calculatio­ns containing the numbers 33 1/3 and 666.

Gallagher testified that many of those calculatio­ns were done in the weeks prior to the shootings. Gorham said Raymond had been watching YouTube videos posted by “Rob Lee Truth” and played one of the videos found on Raymond's computer for the court.

The 30-minute video described how demons could be spotted by the way they look and the numbers and symbols they use — namely 33 1/3 and 666 — and how to get to those numbers from many other combinatio­ns of numbers.

“It's the devil mocking you,” the narrator stated.

“Serpents talk in numbers and words,” the voice on the video added. “The devil wants to hold us and our children hostage.”

Last week, the court was shown pictures of documents and calendars in Raymond's apartment that had the numbers 33 1/3 and 666 written on them.

The video also accuses Disney of hiding demonic symbols and numbers and blames the entertainm­ent industry and Hollywood for “misleading our children.”

Gorham also had Gallagher confirm informatio­n found on the computer showing that Raymond had email conversati­ons with Rob Lee.

GoPro videos shot by Raymond show him wrapping his firearms in a garbage bag and strapping them to his bicycle before riding to a remote area and conducting target practice.

 ?? ANDREW VAUGHAN / THE CANADIAN PRESS ?? Matthew Raymond is charged with four counts of first degree murder in a 2018 shooting.
ANDREW VAUGHAN / THE CANADIAN PRESS Matthew Raymond is charged with four counts of first degree murder in a 2018 shooting.

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