The murder trial of Nicholas Bellemare, the man accused of fatally shooting Ridge Meadows RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien, began in Supreme Court in New Westminister on Monday, Nov. 3.
Bellemare, who is also charged with the attempted murder of Cpl. Colin Ryder during the same Sept. 22, 2023 shooting, heard the Crown prosecutors lay out the allegations against him, before Justice Terence Schultes, who will oversee the judge-only trial.
According to Crown prosecutor Theresa Landiorio, O’Brien, Ryder, and two other officers were undertaking raids on three seperate residences on the day of the shooting.
Bellemare was inside one of the raided locations, which his defence lawyer said was a drug stash house on the twenty-second storey of 3007 Glen Drive in Coquitlam.
According to the Crown’s summary of the evidence they plan to present, O’Brien was the first officer through the door.
Bellemare then allegedly shot him with an AR-15 rifle, also hitting and wounding Ryder.
Another officer retreated and managed to fire a shot that hit Bellemare in the arm.
First responders tried to resuscitated O’Brien in the building’s lobby after the shooting.
When police searched the apartment after the incident, they found 724 grams of cocaine, seven grams of fentanyl, and other drugs. The total street vaue was around $65,000. Police also found $5,000 in a safe, scales, and dime baggies.
The unit was owned by a man who had apparently met Bellemare when the accused killer was a teenager. The older man had a parent-like relationship with Bellemare, but had met him while pretending to be a younger person online, the court heard.
Landiorio said the Crown plans to present witness testimony from RCMP officers, as well as bloodstain and fingerprint evidence, and footage from CCTV cameras.
According to the opening statement from Bellemare’s defence lawyer, Tony Paisana, the trial will involve issues of self defence.
Did Bellemare have the specific intent to commit murder, or did he believe he was acting in self-defence? Paisana said. There will be a question raised of whether Bellemare knew that O’Brien and the others – who were in full RCMP uniform – were police.
Sitting in court on Monday were O’Brien’s widow, Nicole Longacre-O’Brien, supported by friends and loved ones. Supt. Adam Gander, the officer in charge of Ridge Meadows RCMP, was also present in court.
O’Brien, a Langley resident, was a father of six. His funeral, at the Langley Events Centre on Oct. 4, 2023, drew a crowd of about 5,000 people, including around 3,500 first responders, with RCMP officers, civic police, firefighters, and others marching in a procession.
The first-degree murder trial is scheduled to run until December.