Alberta men involved in fatal shooting of Métis hunters lose conviction appeals

Two Alberta men found guilty in the fatal shooting of two Métis hunters have lost appeals of their convictions.

Roger Bilodeau was convicted of two counts of manslaughter for the 2020 shooting of Jacob Sansom and Maurice Cardinal.

His son Anthony Bilodeau, who fired the gun, was convicted of manslaughter and second-degree murder.

Sansom, 39, who was at one time a Nobleford volunteer firefighter, along with Cardinal, his 57-yearold uncle, had been out moose hunting, when they were shot on a road near Glendon, northeast of Edmonton.

Court heard the Bilodeaus had been concerned about a truck parked at the end of their rural property, so they chased down the vehicle and there was a confrontation.

After the shooting, the father and son fled the scene and did not call for help.

Lawyers for both men argued the trial judge erred in his charge to the jury.

Roger Bilodeau’s lawyer said the judge misdirected the jury with regard to his client’s liability for the crime.

Although it was Bilodeau’s son who fired the fatal shots, the jury found the father was a willing party to the killings.

In a written decision issued Monday, two members of the three-justice panel found that to the extent the trial judge made errors, they benefited Roger Bilodeau.

They concluded that no substantial miscarriage of justice occurred.

A third justice submitted a dissenting ruling, saying he would have allowed the appeal and ordered a new trial for Roger Bilodeau.

Anthony Bilodeau’s lawyer argued, among other things, that the trial judge misinterpreted the law on self-defence.

In a separate decision issued Monday, all three appeal justices rejected those arguments.

Roger Bilodeau is serving a 10-year sentence and was recently granted day parole. Anthony Bilodeau was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 13 years.