Not guilty plea likely in Fredericton shooting

Lawyers await police probe findings

FREDERICTON• The Fredericton man accused of killing four people, including two police officers, is likely to plead not guilty, his lawyer says.

Nathan Gorham, who practises out of Saint John and Toronto, made the comment outside the courthouse, shortly after Matthew Vincent Raymond made a brief court appearance Monday morning.

Raymond said nothing as he faced a Fredericton judge on four counts of murder in the deaths of constables Sara Burns and Robb Costello, Donnie Robichaud and Bobbie Lee Wright. Raymond, 48, wore an orange jail jumpsuit and leg shackles. He arrived shoeless and could be seen putting on a pair before leaving the sheriff ’s van for court. He looked down for much of the morning’s events.

Regional Sheriff George Oram cautioned everyone in the packed courtroom against any outbursts. Family members of the victims didn’t speak to the media.

The court appearance was the first time the media has been able to provide visual images of Raymond, other than a fuzzy yearbook picture from his teenage years.

Raymond moved slowly and tentatively as he was led in and out of the court.

Gorham said his client is in fairly poor physical condition, but he is receiving medical treatment and is now out of hospital. The defence presented provincial court Judge Julian Dickson with a piece of evidence but the judge imposed a publication ban on its contents.

Gorham said they were unable to proceed with the case Monday because the lawyers are still awaiting release of the findings of the police investigation. “I expect that his plea will be not guilty and that we’ll be requesting a preliminary inquiry, but we can’t make that decision until after I’ve received the disclosure,” Gorham said.

Crown prosecutor Darlene Blunston said she had been told not to expect the first portion of that disclosure until the first week of October. Dickson adjourned the case until Sept. 24.

The police officers and civilians were gunned down Aug. 10 outside an apartment complex in the New Brunswick capital. It ended after police shot the alleged gunman in the abdomen, according to court documents.

I EXPECT THAT HIS PLEA WILL BE NOT GUILTY AND THAT WE’LL BE REQUESTING A PRELIMINARY INQUIRY.

ANDREW VAUGHAN / THE CANADIAN PRESS Matthew Vincent Raymond, charged with four counts of first-degree murder, is taken from provincial court in Fredericton on Monday. Two city police officers were among four people who died in a shooting in a residential area on the city’s north side.