Witness ordered at gunpoint to drive suspects

Suspects boasted killing was "easy"

Witness ordered at gunpoint to drive, murder trial told
Deadly party ambush linked to revenge, court hears
Key witness takes the stand in triple murder trial

- Juiced on adrenalin, two men accused of killing three people in a house party shoot-out bragged about how “easy” it was, a jury was told Tuesday.

Howard Roulette testified he was forced at gunpoint to drive the then 18-year-old accused and 15-year-old accused to an Alexander Avenue house party where they opened fire, killing partygoers Scott Lavallee, Corey Keeper, and Jennifer Ward. Three others were injured.

The now 17-year-old accused is on trial charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. The now 20-year-old accused will be tried separately.

When the two accused ran back to Roulette’s car “I noticed the adrenalin was running,” Roulette said. “The first thing they said was it was easy, the back door was open.”

Roulette said the adult accused threatened him with violence if he told anybody of their involvement in the shooting.

“I was scared, I didn’t know what to do,” he said.

Both accused said, “Don’t worry, you won’t get caught,” Roulette testified.

Roulette said he met the adult accused some weeks earlier through his girlfriend, who was a roommate of the accused man’s girlfriend.

Roulette said he had been at a social with the man earlier in the evening when Roulette called a female cousin and learned of the house party. Roulette said he and the man were at the party just five minutes before the man said he wanted to leave and pick up some marijuana.

Once in Roulette’s car, the man directed Roulette to drive him to a house on Alfred Avenue. The man exited the car and returned 20 minutes later, dressed in dark clothing and a neck warmer, Roulette said. He was accompanied by a similarly dressed teenage male.

The adult accused told Roulette to drive back to the party and said, “They were planning on doing something,” Roulette testified.

When Roulette asked what, the man pulled out a handgun.

“I said ‘what are you going to do with that?’ ” Roulette said. “He said ‘Shoot up the place.’ I said I don’t want to do that, my cousin is in there. He pointed the gun at my head and said I had no choice.”

Roulette said the man told him he recognized people at the party as the same ones who had stabbed him a week and a half earlier.

A witness at the triple murder trial of a 17-year-old told court Tuesday in Winnipeg how the teen ordered him at gunpoint to drive to a party.

The teen was allegedly one of two masked gunmen who burst into the home on Alexander Avenue in the city's Weston neighbourhood on March 29, 2008, and opened fire.

Three people — Scott Lavallee, 31, Corey Keeper, 22, and Jennifer Ward, 26 — were killed at the house party.

Three others were wounded — two men, aged 19 and 29, and a 41-year-old woman — but survived the attack.

The 17-year-old accused was 15 at the time of the shooting. His alleged accomplice, a 20-year-old man who was 18 at the time, is scheduled for trial later this month.

They are each charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder.

'Going to shoot up the place'

Harold Roulette described to the court how the 17-year-old accused pressed an old-fashioned revolver — the type with a wheeled cylinder for the bullets — against the side of his head.

Roulette said the teens told him they were "going to shoot up the place." Roulette told the teens he didn't want to drive them to the house because his cousin was at the party.

But he was scared and realized he had no choice, he told Crown prosecutor Dale Schille.

"Don't worry, we won't get caught," Roulette said, recalling what the teens told him.

He explained that he drove past the front of the house, around the corner, and into the back alley where he stopped.

The two teens then got out and went into the house without Roulette, whose testimony is key to the Crown's case because no one else at the party could identify the two shooters whose identities were concealed.

Roulette said the teens returned after about two minutes and were jittery and hyper. They even seemed happy, he said.

When he asked them what to do, they told him to drive. He didn't know where to take them, so he drove them home, Roulette said.

He met up with the teens the following day but no one spoke about the incident, Roulette said.

The day after that, two police detectives arrived at Roulette's house and took him to a police station and asked him to identify the alleged shooters from some photographs. One of the people he picked out was the teen who is currently on trial, court heard.

Witness breaks down on stand

Another witness who testified earlier in the day was at the house party when the gunmen came in. He said he ran into the basement until the shooting stopped and didn't realize that he'd been hit.

The witness was not being identified by CBC News at request of the family, which fears retaliation.

Rick Hansen, who also took the stand earlier in the day, told court he was sitting beside his girlfriend in front of the kitchen door when the gunmen stormed in.

Hansen broke down while looking at photos of the kitchen and took several minutes before he could continue speaking once again.

His girlfriend was Ward, who left behind two children when she died.

The trial, which is being heard by Justice Colleen Suche and is set for two weeks.

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AN ambush inside a Winnipeg house party that left three people dead and three others seriously injured might have been motivated by revenge.
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Howard Roulette told a jury Tuesday the two masked gunmen apparently had payback on their minds when they ran into the Alexander Avenue home in March 2008 and opened fire on a large crowd of people.
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Roulette said Colton Patchinose (the 20 year old accused) believed at least one of the people inside the home was responsible for an attack about 10 days earlier that left him suffering stab wounds. Roulette and Patchinose had been at the party earlier in the night but left, only to return a short time later.
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"On the way to the house I asked them why they were doing this. (Patchinose) said those are the ones who stabbed me before," said Roulette. He said Patchinose previously told him "black people" stabbed him, but Roulette said he didn't see anyone who fit that description at the party. None of the victims was black.
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Scott Lavallee, 31, Jennifer Ward, 26, and Corey Keeper, 22, died after being struck at close range by at least eight of the 19 bullets that were fired that night.
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Roulette was arrested but had his murder charges dropped once justice officials concluded he was only a witness. He told jurors Tuesday he was given no deals or promises in exchange for his testimony. Roulette's credibility is being challenged by defence lawyers, but Roulette insisted Tuesday his story is truthful. (Of course he told court he wasn't given any deals in exchange for his testimony, but if you look at the main cause of wrongful convictions, we all know it happens and people obviously aren't going to admit to that. We can't just assume he is being truthful and move on. This must be examined carefully.)
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Roulette had met Patchinose weeks before the deadly shooting spree because their respective girlfriends were roommates. He said Patchinose told him to drive to a house on Pritchard Avenue once they initially left the party on Alexander. He was told to wait outside.
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Patchinose emerged a few minutes later with the youth who is now on trial. Roulette said the two men pulled out handguns in the car, ordered him to go back to the party, and talked about wanting to "shoot the place up." Roulette claims he balked at their plans and said he didn't want to be involved. He said Patchinose threatened to kill him if he didn't comply.
- watched as the two accused ran towards the home, guns drawn. They returned moments later to the car, telling him to speed away.
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Ward's boyfriend testified earlier Tuesday about hearing a loud "bang" while standing in the kitchen of the Alexander Avenue home. He described a scene of chaos as bullets started flying, including one that killed his girlfriend. He was also hit but survived.
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Roulette eventually parted ways with the two men. Police showed up at his door two days later. They had learned Roulette had been at the party that night through his cousin, who was also there. Roulette initially denied knowing anything but quickly broke down and gave a statement.