Neighbours see men leaving apartment around time of Saint John man's stabbing

Former neighbours of Justin Breau said they heard a scuffle in the building around the time he was killed in his apartment on Aug. 17, 2022, a jury in Saint John heard on Wednesday.

Jennifer Gibbon, who lives on the floor below the apartment where Breau was stabbed, said the commotion attracted her attention so much that she stepped into the hallway to see what was going on.

She said she heard a man's voice yelling. She said something about the incident bothered her enough to try to hide in an area where she couldn't be seen.

Before the men left the top floor, Gibbon said she heard a man's voice say, "Enjoy that high."

Peeking out into the hallway, she said she saw two men descend the stairs and leave the building. She said they didn't hurry away, but that they were "walking as if they were walking into a grocery store."

Gibbon's 25-year-old son Neil also watched the pair walk away. He said one man was heavy-set and in his 40s, while the other man was significantly younger.

Not long after Justin Breau's death, police said three men had forced their way into an apartment on Charles Street. (Graham Thompson/CBC)

Both describe the second man as much thinner, with curly hair.

"The hair is what stuck with me — and his size," Gibbon told the jury.

Neighbour Timothy Daly testified that he lived on the same floor as Breau and had, at one time, even lived in the apartment Breau later moved into.

He said he heard the commotion as he was getting ready to log-in to work from a computer in his apartment. He said he peered through the peephole and saw a "shadowy figure in the hallway."

He heard "thumping, thrashing, yelling" but couldn't make out what was being said, except for some swear words. He was, however, able to make out a male voice saying during the scuffle, "You're hurting her," he said.

Daly said he had no idea what happened until his mother called him later to check on him. She told him his apartment was surrounded by police tape.

Phone records reveal a lot of activity between accused

Saint John Police Force crime analyst Angela Totten returned to the stand Wednesday afternoon to finish her testimony, presenting the phone records of several people connected to the case.

The records show a series of calls and texts sent between the phones of at least five of the six people who were eventually charged with first-degree murder in Breau's death, four previously pleaded guilty to lesser offences and were sentenced in recent months.

In April, Travis Earl Boudreau, 35, and Sarah Jean Belzil, 37, pleaded guilty to being accessories. They were both given a one-year conditional sentence to be served in the community.

Evan Tobias, Sarah Belzil and Travis Boudreau were all previously sentenced for their involvement in the 2022 death of Justin Breau. Also sentenced, but not pictured here, was Dustin Walker-Hammond, 26, the son of Donald Walker, who is currently on trial for first-degree murder. (Saint John Police Force and Travis Boudreau/Facebook)

In May, Dustin Trey Walker-Hammond, 26, was sentenced to two years less a day for manslaughter, and last month, Evan Louis Tobias, 30, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

The flurry of communication between several of the accused largely happened in the two hours leading up to Breau's death on the afternoon of Aug. 17, 2022.

Totten explained to the jury that it wasn't possible to know what was said during the calls — only who made the calls, to whom the calls were made, whether the calls were received on the other end, and how long the phone line was open.

In his opening remarks to the jury on Monday, Crown prosecutor Christopher Ryan said the calls culminated in six people meeting in the north end then driving to Breau's Charles Street apartment.

The trial is expected to hear from more police officers when it resumes on Thursday morning.