Cornwall murder trial hears from victim's stepfather
Testimony outlines alleged violence, harassment from accused ex-boyfriend
CORNWALL The first week of an emotional first-degree murder trial in the death of an Alexandria woman concluded Friday.
Brandon Smeltzer, 27, stands accused of first-degree murder for the death of Emilie Maheu, 26, in October 2018. Smeltzer admitted in court to killing Maheu after her body was found in a Lancaster cornfield, but denies planning the events leading to her death.
Maheu met Smeltzer in Halifax. Their daughter was born in Nova Scotia in 2016.
Testimony delivered Friday by the victim's stepfather, Jacques Lamarche, painted a stark image of the relationship between Smeltzer and Maheu, which he said at several times left his stepdaughter nervous and fearful of Smeltzer.
Lamarche recalled an incident in which Maheu phoned him and Maheu's mother, Diane Brossoit, and told them Smeltzer had punched a hole in a wall during an argument.
“She said that she was getting scared and wanted to come back (to Alexandria) as soon as possible,” Lamarche said to Crown attorney Elaine Evans.
“She told us that things weren't going great. We didn't know what was happening there, but we knew she needed to come home. She sounded very nervous.”
Although Lamarche echoed some of the testimony that had previously been given by Brossoit — that early in their relationship, both Maheu and Smeltzer seemed relatively happy — he also told of being a witness to escalating arguments.
“On Christmas, we went to visit his (Smeltzer's) parents,” he said. “The kid (Maheu's and Smeltzer's daughter) was ready for milk, so Emilie was asking for the bottle repeatedly.
All of a sudden she asked for milk from Brandon and he sort of snapped.”
According to Lamarche, Smeltzer told Maheu to “take your (expletive) kid and go back to Ontario.”
Maheu eventually moved back to the Alexandria area after breaking up with Smeltzer.
She rented an apartment in the Green Valley area and secured part-time work at a nearby chiropractic clinic. According to Lamarche, she was happy to be moving on with her life.
His testimony however, showed Smeltzer persisted in contacting Maheu on numerous occasions.
“Anywhere she went, he needed to know where she was. It was some sort of control,” Lamarche said. “She was getting fed up with it. They were separated.”
Smeltzer also requested that he be able to have their daughter back to Nova Scotia for three months: June, July and August.
“She did not want to let her go because she thought it made no sense,” Lamarche said. “(Smeltzer) had no time for her, she thought, because he was working.”
An issue — which was not elaborated on — meant Lamarche was not cross-examined by Smeltzer's defence counsel on Friday.
The trial is expected to resume on Monday.