It was two years and two months after Jamie Leard was shot and killed by his former friends in Upper Cape, New Brunswick, that his mother Doris Leard had the chance to speak in court, and to tell one of her son’s killers about the impact of his actions on May 25, 2021.

Leard was given time to read her victim impact statement on July 25, 2023, during a sentencing hearing for Sean Patterson, one of two men who has pled guilty to a role in Jamie Leard’s death. Jamie’s uncle Michael Winter also filed a victim impact statement with the court, but chose not to read it aloud.

“I miss Jamie so much,” Leard told the Moncton courtroom last week. “He is never coming home again. I will never see him again.”

Leard said she called and texted Jamie almost daily, to see how he was, and tell him she loved him. “Now I can’t, and never will be able to again,” said the grieving mother.

Leard talked about a number of routines and rituals that are now lost to her forever, including dinners at her home with her son, annual visits to family in PEI, and Christmas and birthday celebrations. “I will never have grandchildren,” said Leard, “as he was my only child.”

In addition to the overwhelming grief for the loss of her son, Leard expressed fear and discomfort in her own home. “Every time a car goes by. I get scared. I’m scared that they might get out and set my house on fire,” Leard told the court.

Patterson is facing a joint recommendation for 14 years in prison before he is eligible for parole, minus three years and three months for time already served. Chief Justice Tracey DeWare won’t hand down the actual sentence until September 7, due to misplaced briefs filed by the prosecution and defense.

Two guilty pleas, two versions of events

Patterson pleaded guilty to second degree murder on April 14 of this year, and admitted to the court that he shot Jamie in the head upon his friend’s arrival back at home on May 25, 2021. Patterson also said another individual shot Leard two to three more times.

Patterson’s co-accused, Henry Pottie, was on trial for first degree murder for two weeks, on and off, before the Crown accepted his guilty plea to manslaughter. According to his lawyer, Pottie insists that he did not actually shoot Leard, but that his behaviour “assisted or encouraged the confrontation with Patterson, knowing it was a dangerous situation.”

Even as the sentencing hearings progress, the discrepancy between the two men’s stories remains unresolved, and no clear motive for the murder has been put forward. Crown prosecutor Maurice Blanchard told the court last week that the motive behind the violent crime is unclear. “It’s a bit hard to fathom why this happens,” said Blanchard. “The driving force behind this seems to be drug addiction.“

Patterson’s lawyer Daniel Gallant agreed, telling the court that Patterson had become addicted to crack cocaine at eighteen years of age, later using crystal meth. “The motive behind the second degree murder here, it remains unknown, and our position is that it will remain unknown,” said Gallant. “And that the driving force of this, as stated by my friend opposite, was the crystal meth.”

Patterson will be back in court September 7 for a sentencing decision, and Henry Pottie will be back on September 15, also for sentencing.