Savage’s longtime friend testifies at Lindsay murder trial

Marijuana grow may have been used as ruse, murder trial hears

William Savage and David Leblanc were born two days apart.

As children they ran in the same neighbourhood, but were never close. That changed in the early 1980s when Leblanc transferred to the same middle school as Savage. Their lifelong friendship started to form in Grade 7.

Savage was Leblanc’s best man in 1994. They spent countless weekends as teens and adults at Leblanc’s family cottage on Spruce Lake in Haliburton. Between 1999 and 2013, Leblanc and Savage had several marijuana grow operations in low lying areas in and around Spruce Lake.

Marijuana ended up being the undoing of their relationship. “There was money (about $1,600) owing to me,” Leblanc said from the witnesses stand as Savage’s first-degree murder trial continued Monday in Superior Court of Justice in Lindsay.

“I sent several texts. He just stopped replying to me.”

The Fenelon Falls man has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of David Palmer on Oct. 2, 2015. It’s the prosecution’s theory that Savage owed Palmer a substantial amount of money and the only way to get out of debt was to kill him with a .308 rifle.

In her opening statements, assistant Crown attorney Rebecca Griffin told the jury that Savage lured Palmer to a secluded area in Haliburton where Savage was going to partly pay back his debt by getting marijuana from a grow operation.

On Oct. 14, police recovered Palmer’s gold-coloured 2002 Honda Accord near Spruce Lake Trail, on an old driveway which led up Leblanc’s family cottage. About 275 metres, and about six months later, parts of Palmer’s remains were found in a wooded area.

“There would be absolutely no reason for anybody to go there,” Leblanc testified.

He later admitted in cross-examination that he made an earlier statement to police that it would be “the logical place to park if harvesting in the area.”

From the old driveway, where Palmer’s car was located, there were up to four different areas within a 20 minute walking distance where Leblanc and Savage had been involved in marijuana grow operations. However, earlier in the trial, the jury heard that police never found any signs of current marijuana grow operation and the Crown claimed it was a ruse by Savage to get Palmer alone.

As for the alleged murder weapon, Leblanc knew about the .308 rifle the prosecution says was used to kill Palmer. Leblanc recalled that three guns were given to him through his ex-common law’s father.

Earlier in the trial, Deborah Kinney, Savage’s ex-common’s law’s mother, testified she moved into her daughter and Savage’s home after her husband’s death.

She said three guns came with her, including the rifle in question.

“He had those guns in his possession,” Leblanc testified.

The gun was never found despite many searches.

However, .308 live rounds were found at the alleged crime scene, but no spent rounds were ever located.

Palmer’s jacket was found with five bullet-sized holes, but his torso was never located and cause of death was never determined.

The trial continues Wednesday.