Crown contends victim walked into ‘fatal trap’ over drug deal gone bad

Facing a Regina jury, Crown prosecutor Bill Jennings argued Reno Lee believed he was meeting with Bronson Gordon to discuss an exchange of drug product.

But, Jennings said, Gordon, Daniel Theodore and Andrew Bellegarde had something else in mind for the 34-year-old man.

“Reno Lee was walking into a fatal trap that Bronson and his associates had set for him,” Jennings said.

Pointing to testimony jurors heard over the past several weeks, Jennings described how Lee was taken at gunpoint from Gordon’s Angus Street apartment to a house on Garnet Street where he was ushered into the basement. There, he was bound and held for some time before he was ultimately shot twice in the head.

“This wasn’t an accident,” Jennings said. “It was an execution.”

Bellegarde, 24, Gordon, 33, and Theodore, 34, are each charged with first-degree murder in the April 16, 2015 incident that led to Lee’s killing — a charge Jennings urged the 11-person jury to find the Crown has proven. The three are also accused of offering an indignity to human remains, a charge related to the dismemberment of Lee’s body.

Defence counsel for the men argued key Crown witnesses were either too high to accurately recall details, or have reason to minimize their own roles in the confinement and killing.

But Jennings argued those witnesses provided vital, credible evidence that prove the men planned Lee’s kidnapping and murder or — in the cases of Theodore and Bellegarde — at least participated in the kidnapping and confinement leading to the murder. Jennings pointed out the jury can also arrive at first-degree murder convictions if they believe the second scenario, in which Lee was killed in the course of his unlawful confinement.

Jennings argued a plan had been hatched for Lee’s arrival at Gordon’s apartment, referring to testimony that Gordon gave Bellegarde and another man guns and placed them in a bedroom to lie in wait for Lee. Jennings argued Gordon remained at his apartment since he was on electronic monitoring, putting Theodore in charge once the group left for Garnet Street with Lee as their prisoner.

While Gordon denied any foreknowledge of Lee’s fate, Jennings suggested Gordon’s testimony was littered with inconsistencies and unbelievable statements. Although defence counsel made similar arguments about Crown witnesses, Jennings argued his witnesses’ evidence was often backed up by that of others — including, in some cases, Gordon himself.

Jennings said the Crown doesn’t need to prove motive but he put forward several possibilities, including the elimination of competition or an attempt by an in-debt Gordon to rip Lee off, given the large quantity of drugs court heard Lee had just brought from Alberta.

Jennings argued evidence showed Gordon remained in contact with the others after they left his apartment, allowing him to continue “consulting and directing their actions.” Jennings described Theodore as Gordon’s “business partner,” arguing he took charge after they left Gordon’s, while Bellegarde acted as “muscle.”

All, he claimed, were aware Lee was to die that night and took on roles that ensured that outcome.

Justice Catherine Dawson is to instruct the jury Wednesday, following which jurors will begin deliberating.