The jury in the ongoing first degree murder trial of Henry Pottie heard evidence on Tuesday about how Jamie Leard’s body was eventually found by concerned citizens, and what happened to three rifles that were turned over to police in connection with his murder.

The trial which started on April 17 continued this week in a Moncton courtroom.

Pottie is accused of first degree murder of Jamie Leard, who was last seen on May 25, 2021, the day crown attorneys believe he was shot and killed in his home in Upper Cape.

A publication ban limits reporting on the trial to only what the jury hears, which excludes discussions in court over the acceptability of testimony and lines of questioning of witnesses.

On Tuesday the jury heard from Jeff Trenholm of Port Elgin, who testified that he found the remains of Jamie Leard on June 3, along with Leard’s friend and neighbour Shannon Wall.

Trenholm told the court he had learned of the whereabouts of Leard’s remains from Colt Leblanc, and had given the information to the police about 24 hours before he and Wall located Leard’s remains.

Trenholm said he had been trying to find out what happened to Leard, who went to school with his younger brother, and also grew up in Port Elgin. Under cross examination from defense lawyer Nathan Gorham, Trenholm said his motivation was simply to help in “finding this woman’s son,” in reference to Doris Leard, Jamie’s mother.

According to his testimony, while Trenholm was on the phone with Carrie Ann Trude asking for information, Trude’s boyfriend Colt LeBlanc messaged Trenholm to say if he wanted to know what happened to Jamie Leard, he should meet with LeBlanc. Trenholm and his brother drove to Aulac and met LeBlanc and another person at a smoke shop near the Big Stop.

Out of concern for his perceived credibility, Trenholm decided to record the conversation with LeBlanc on his phone. He later played that recording for the RCMP when they took his statement at the Sackville detachment several hours later.

During cross examination, Gorham asked Trenholm if the RCMP asked for a copy of the recording, and Trenholm said they did not. Trenholm told the court he had since deleted to the recording, after getting requests to share it. “A lot of people knew that I had this recording,” said Trenholm, “and I figured this is not the whole town’s business, right?”

After he noticed no police in the area the evening after he spoke with the RCMP, Trenholm and Wall drove out to the area he had heard described by Colt LeBlanc. The two soon discovered the site where Leard’s body had been burned and covered with debris. Trenholm said he noticed burned grass around the spot, and according to Shannon Wall’s previous testimony reported by the CBC’s Shane Magee, there was a smell that indicated they had located Leard’s remains.

Trenholm told the court he and Wall didn’t touch anything at the scene, and Wall immediately contacted friends with the RCMP for advice. The two then waited in their truck until police arrived.

Early in his testimony Trenholm was advised by Judge Robert Dysart to only talk about about things he said or did, and avoid reporting what others had said. Gorham expressed surprise, saying had been under the impression Trenholm was there to testify as to his conversation with LeBlanc.

Gorham later asked Trenholm if he knew the current whereabouts of Colt LeBlanc, and if LeBlanc had told him that Sean Patterson had admitted to having shot Jamie Leard himself. Crown attorney Guillaume Rigucci immediately objected.

Patterson was Leard’s roommate and was originally co-accused along with Henry Pottie. Patterson has since pled guilty to second degree murder. Both he and Colt LeBlanc are expected to testify in the trial.

Cocaine for guns, and a two year old lie to police

On Tuesday the jury also heard from Denise Johnson of Point de Bute, who says she purchased the three rifles submitted as evidence in the trial through her son, Zack Johnson. Johnson ended up turning in the guns to police on June 3, the same day Jamie Leard’s body was discovered about 20 km from his home in Upper Cape.

Johnson told the court her son called to offer her a possible deal on the three rifles, and as a hunter, she took him up on the offer. But some time after paying her son Zack $200 for the three rifles, Johnson said she became worried they might be connected to the ongoing investigation into Jamie Leard’s disappearance. A police officer had come to her home in search of her son Zack, and Johnson says she started to hear rumours that Leard’s body had been found and that he had been shot.

On June 3rd, the day Leard’s body was discovered, Johnson went to the police to turn in the guns, but lied to them about how she obtained them. Johnson told police she was with her son Zack and went to get the rifles, when in fact her son had been with his girlfriend at the time, and had taken possession of the guns in exchange for cocaine. Johnson testified that her son begged her to lie, as he had a court-imposed no contact order with his girlfriend at the time, and also was not allowed to be in possession of firearms.

It wasn’t until nearly two years later, when Johnson was served with a summons to testify in the current trial that she went to police to change her statement.

Under cross examination, Gorham asked Johnson why she agreed to take the guns in the first place, knowing her son’s legal situation. “I did nothing right a mother should have said,” Johnson replied. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it.”

Gorham later pointed out that by lying to police for two years Johnson had hindered a murder investigation. Johnson told him she had been hoping the matter wouldn’t end up in court.

“I understand what I did was wrong,” she told the court.

Jury dismissed until next week

The trial continued Wednesday with more testimony from Jeff Trenholme and Zack Johnson, and then the judge dismissed the jury until next week, in order to address a point of law, according to the CBC’s Shane Magee.