Bonnell murder trial jurors to deliberate a 2nd day

Jurorsin Curtis Bonnell's first-degree murder trialare scheduled to resume deliberations on Saturday morning.

They adjourned for the day Friday at about 8:30 p.m., after considering the evidencefor about four-and-a-half hours.

Bonnell, 32, of the Esgenoopetitj First Nation, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Hilary Bonnell, his 16-year-old first cousin. He has pleaded not guilty.

The jury is expected to return to the Miramichi courthouse at 9:30 a.m., to continueporing over the nearly seven weeks of evidence and testimony in the case.

The 12-member jury began deliberations late Friday afternoon, following lengthy instructions from the judge.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Fred Fergusonurged the jurors to "carefully consider all of the evidence with an open mind" and not to be swayed by any media reports they may have been seen.

"You are the judge of the facts," he said.

The judge laid out for the jury the three possible convictions first-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter.

The conviction would move up to the most serious first-degree murder if the jury finds there was sexual assault or unlawful confinement, he said, reading from the 40-page summary he prepared.

But the jury, made up of six men andsix women,must be unanimous on what happened, he stressed as the accused, who was sporting a white, button-up shirt looked on.

Ferguson also went over the testimony of several witnesses with the jury, recounting what the individuals had said.

"What is most important is that you choose what you think are the facts and what are not," he said.

The Crown alleges Bonnell picked up Hilary the morning of Sept. 5, 2009, as she was walking along Micmac Road in the province's northeastern community after a party. Bonnell is accused of holding Hilary against her will, sexually assaulting her and killing her.

On Thursday, the Crown and defence were each given one hour for their closing remarks.

Confession under pressure

Gilles Lemieux, the defence lawyer, said it was "unfortunate that a young lady was robbed of her life."

"You can come to the conclusion that a crime was committed, but the defence's position is that there wasn't," he said.

Lemieux went over the timeline of events and stressed that nobody saw Bonnell's truck on the road at the same time Hilary was walking and nobody can place the two of them together.

"Interesting dilemma here," he said.

The defence argued there was no physical evidence or forensic evidence to show Hilary was killed. And there was noevidence to suggest Bonnell had killed herother than his own words.

During the trial,the jury had watched a police video of Bonnelladmitting to RCMPthat he had killed Hilary in his backyard after they had sex, but Lemieux said the confession was given under pressure from police.

There was no trauma to Hilary's body and Bonnell is a large man, Lemieux said, comparing him to a bull in a china store.The lawyerreferred to Bonnell's own testimony, when he said that if he hit someone, there "would be carnage."

Lemieux also questioned if Bonnell had killed Hilary and worked so hard to cover it up, why he would lead police to her body. The reason, he said, was Bonnell was looking for help; an explanation as to what happened that night because he blacked out from drugs and alcohol.

The defencesays Hilary may have flagged Bonnell down for protection becauseshe was scared, as her earliertext messagesto another cousin seemed to indicate, got drunk withBonnell and then feel asleep in his truck ina position that may have blocked her airway.

"Maybe, just maybe, the Crown got something wrong," Lemieux said.

'Preposterous'

Bill Richards,the Crown prosecutor,said he "absolutely rejects"Bonnell's testimonythat he woke up in his truck on Sept. 5 to find Hilary's body slumped over in his passenger seat, panicked and then buried her.

"Preposterous," Richards said.

He pointed out that Bonnell admitted to killing Hilary, not only to police, but also to his father and a spiritual elder.

Bonnell also gave police detailed information about what had happened, said Richards.

Bonnell told police he and Hilary had fought because Hilary wanted $100 in exchange for the sex and he refused. He said he covered her mouth to stop her from yelling and before he knew it, she was dead.

"You have a window into the personality of the accused," said Richards.

"You've seen him tell [RCMP] Sgt. [Greg] Lupson, 'I wasa monsterthat day,' andthat he went 'overboard.'"

Bonnell was angry that day; upset that his girlfriendhad left and taken their son with her, said Richards. Hewas furious and when he saw Hilary, he lashed out, argued Richards.

He contends Bonnell attempted to sexually assault Hilary, then killed her and buried her.

There is forensic evidence to support the Crown's case, Richards said, pointing to the testimony of the pathologist, whoconcluded Hilary's death was criminally suspicious.

Even the defence's pathologist could not rule out the fact that it was criminally suspicious, Richards said.

The trial started on Sept. 17.