Richard Bain murder trial: Stagehand tells jury he heard Denis Blanchette scream

Elias Ames-Bull testified in the Richard Bain murder trial thatwhen he first heard a bang and saw the suspect holding a firearm, he thought it might have been a pellet gun. Then he saw the blood.

Ames-Bull was one of several technicians who witnessed the shooting at the Parti Qubcois election-night victory party who took the stand Monday.

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He said he had been waiting with a group of roughly ten or so technicians on the back steps of the Metropolis that night, tellingthecourt thataround midnight he tipped his head down to light a cigarette, looked back upand heard a shot ring out.

"I felt something brushing past my head and I looked, and I saw the suspect holding the weapon," he testified.

I heard a scream and I saw the blood.- Elias Ames-Bull, technician

"At first I thought it was a practical joke because I didn't thinkstuff like that could really happen."

But then, he said, he saw the blood.

"I looked towards DenisBlanchettebecause I heard a scream, and I saw the blood and that's it."

Bain,65, is accused ofmurderingBlanchette, a lighting technician. He's also accused ofthree countsof attempted murder, as well asarson and possession of an incendiary devicefor the attack on Sept. 4, 2012atthe Metropolis theatre.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

'I had blood on my face'

Several of the stagehands told the court it wasn't until they escaped to safety in nearby bars or restaurantsthat they realized they had blood on them.

"We regrouped, and that's when someone told me I had blood on my face, and I realized it was not my blood,"Benoit Belhumeur told the court on Monday.

He said that's when they decided to do a head count to see who was missing.

Detonation, lots of smoke

Thejury also heard from anotherstagehand,BenoitGromko, who said he sawhis colleagueDave Courage falldown beside him after hearing a loud bang.

"He was on the ground, screaming ...It happened quickly,"Gromkotold the court.

Courage was seriously injuredbut survived.

Gromko testified thathe was chatting with his colleaguesonthe back steps of the theatre around midnight, waiting to go inside and take down the lighting, when he heard what he thought was a flash grenade.

"We were chatting a bit, talking about the outcome of the election that night Then we heard a detonation followed by a lot of smoke," the jury heard.

"People were trying to get inside.I saw Dave [Courage] who was right next to me fall to the ground."

Several of Monday's witnesses described the shooter as a white male, who waswearing a ski mask. Several of them also testified to seeing him struggle with the firearm at one point, as it it was jammed or there was some sort of problem.

Technician saw bald man drive by 3 times

Earlier in the day, the jury also heard testimony from a technicianwho was working earlier the day of the shooting.

PatrickMagnan, an audio-visual technician, testified that he recalledseeinga bald man wearing glasses driving a black Yukon passby the Metropolis theatre threetimes within the span of an hour that afternoon.

Magnantold the jury that as he waited outside the theatre to set up a large screen, hesaw a black, suburban-style vehicle pass by the Metropolis three times between approximately 5:30 p.m. and and 6:30 p.m.

The driver inside appeared to be examining the front entrance of the Metropolis, Magnan testified.

The witness added that he's fond of suburban-style vehicles, and the black Yukon caught his eye. He told the juryhe looked inside to catch a glimpseof the driver.

"I looked into the vehicle, and I saw that it was a person between 50 and 60 years old," Magnansaid.

He said the driverwas bald and wearing glasses.

Defence presses witness about discrepancies

AlanGuttman,Bain'slawyer, questioned the Crown's witnesses about their timelines and how clearly they were thinking that night.

During cross-examination, Guttman asked whether the witnesses saw the shooter's eyes, whether they recognized the photo of the bluebathrobe that had been entered into evidenceand whether they could say for certain if the long gun photographed by police was the gun they saw that night.

He also asked them what the weather was like that evening. One witness said with certainty that it had been raining, while others said that it was warm out, and it wasn't raining.

Guttmanhoned inonAmes-Bull, who first told police that he heard two shots that night, and it wasn't until he met with police again, several days later, that he corrected that statement, saying he'd only heard one shot.

Guttman pressed Ames-Bull over and over again about the discrepancies, asking why he didn't phone police immediately when he realized he made a mistake.

"I was in a state of shock," Ames-Bull told the jury. "Ithought about the event a lot.Iwas playing this back in my head over and over, and when I first realized that it might not have been two shots, my first thought was not to call police," he said.

The trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks.