Jesse Norman Sweder may have told an undercover police officer he killed Peter John Letendre but in fact was never even at the scene of his death, defence lawyer Jim Heller told a jury Thursday in opening arguments for a first-degree murder trial.
Sweder took credit for the Dec. 11, 2004 shooting death nearly three years after the incident, while in a Fort St. John bar with the officer, who as posing as a full-patch biker, the court was told.
Sweder will take the unusual step of taking the stand to explain his actions at a point during the trial.
"He's going to explain an act of bravado to self aggrandize himself," Heller said.
