Judge warns Curtis Bonnell jury about transcripts
Discrepancies between Bonnell's videotaped police statements and transcripts
CBC News
Posted: Oct 2, 2012 2:11 PM AT
Last Updated: Oct 2, 2012 7:55 PM AT
A Court of Queen's Bench judge has warned the jury at Curtis Bonnell's first-degree murder trial about transcripts involved in the case.
Justice Fred Ferguson told the jury on Tuesday that he's already noticed discrepancies between what he's hearing on Bonnell's videotaped police statements, which are being played for the Miramichi courtroom, and transcripts of those statements.
Ferguson urged the jury to decide for themselves what they're hearing because, he said, the actual meaning of a sentence may change completely, depending upon how a word is interpreted.
Hilary Bonnell disappeared from her northern New Brunswick community in September 2009. (RCMP)Bonnell, 32, of the Esgenoopetitj First Nation in northeastern New Brunswick, is charged with the first-degree murder of 16-year-old Hilary Bonnell in 2009.
The Crown alleges Bonnell picked up Hilary, his first cousin, on Sept. 5, 2009, as the she was walking along Micmac Road in the northeastern community after a party.
'I don’t care what I’m charged with, I just want to go to a cell and be left alone.'—Curtis Bonnell
Bonnell is accused of holding Hilary against her will, sexually assaulting her and killing her.
Police made several recordings of Bonnell using microphones in the walls of police stations or jails, or with an officer wearing a body pack.
Parts of the conversations are inaudible, either due to poor quality recordings, people speaking too softly, or too much noise in the background.
On Tuesday, the jury was shown a videotape of Bonnell being questioned by the RCMP at the Moncton Detention Centre in November, 2009, after leading police to a remote wooded area near Tabusintac, where they later discovered Hilary's body in a shallow grave.
Denies knowing Hilary
Bonnell mumbles and rambles about wanting to plead in front of a judge.
"I don’t care what I’m charged with, I just want to go to a cell and be left alone," Bonnell said.
He just wants it over and done with and is willing to plead guilty to whatever they want, he said.
Officers can be heard clearly telling him several times that he has the right to a lawyer, but he repeatedly refuses.
When police ask Bonnell for more details about Hilary's death or her burial site, he becomes evasive, mumbles or doesn't answer.
When asked about what type of girl Hilary was, Bonnell says he never knew her, or even met her before, not even at Christmas or family gatherings.
Later on, however, Bonnell describes Hilary as a party girl, who drank, did drugs and introduced his sister to boys.
Bonnell also complains about not having had a shower for three days and that he can't seem to keep any food down.
It could take the full week to watch the remaining videos of police interviews with Bonnell.
The trial, which started on Sept. 17, is expected to last up to eight weeks.
Share Tools
Latest New Brunswick News Headlines
- Fredericton mom told to stop breastfeeding at public pool
- A Fredericton mother is speaking out after a lifeguard asked her to stop breastfeeding her daughter at the indoor public pool. more »
- MS liberation therapy fund should end, Parrott says
- Independent MLA and retired surgeon Jim Parrott is calling on the provincial government to stop spending taxpayers' money on a controversial treatment for multiple sclerosis. more »
- Dog taken amid allegations of abuse reunited with family
- A dog that went missing in Saint John earlier this week amidst online allegations of abuse and neglect has been reunited with its owners. more »
- Heavy rainfall forecast prompts flood warnings
- Environment Canada has issued a heavy rainfall warning for New Brunswick with as much as 120 millimetres of rain expected to fall in central, southeastern and southwestern regions by late Saturday. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Royal Bank pledges not to outsource jobs for cash savings
- Royal Bank has promised it will never outsource a Canadian job to a foreign worker solely to save money. more »
- Washington police blame bridge collapse on Alberta trucker

- Washington State police say an Alberta trucker was responsible for hitting a steel beam precipitating a bridge collapse on one of the busiest routes in the American northwest. more »
- Man accused of killing child in patio crash granted bail
- Emotions ran high in a packed Edmonton courthouse Friday as Richard Suter, accused of causing a crash into a restaurant patio that killed a young boy, was granted bail. more »
- Canada ranks 3rd last in paid vacations
- Canada ranks third last among economically advanced countries in the amount of paid vacation time it guarantees its workers, a new U.S. study indicates. more »
- Fredericton mom told to stop breastfeeding at public pool
- Joe Oliver challenges Trudeau's west-east pipeline 'tone'
- Dog taken amid allegations of abuse reunited with family
- Teen dies after falling from moving vehicle
- Rothesay man charged with 2nd-degree murder
- Heavy rainfall forecast prompts flood warnings
- New financial board will replace securities commission
- Moncton defends spending on soccer fields
- Trudeau raises environmental questions over pipeline

