The jury hearing a first degree murder trial for Jesse Norman Sweder found themselves sifting through key testimony Thursday in the form of a taped conversation in which the accused claimed he murdered Peter Jean Letendre, a Prince George drug debt
collector.
Because it occurred in a noisy Fort St. John bar, the recording's quality was poor. Consequently, an undercover officer who made the recording spent part of the morning making corrections to a typed transcript, while jury members, lawyers and B.C. Supreme Court justice Glen Parrett wore headphones to better hear what had been said.
A speaker was also set up so the rest of the court could hear the recording but background noise from the bar drowned out most of the conversation.
However, a recounting from the officer, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, indicated Sweder was motivated by a concern that Letendre was after his parents for an unspecified reason and that he shot Letendre because the person who was supposed to pull the trigger was a "bitch" and failed to carry out the act.
Letendre was found dead outside Victoria Towers on 20th at Norwood during the early morning of Dec. 11, 2004.
The conversation occurred over the night of Oct. 27, 2006 after Sweder, living in Fort St. John at the time, was brought in by the RCMP for questioning.
Posing as a full-patch biker, the officer was planted in Sweder's cell and following their release, the two went to the bar where they each drank five beers and five shots of whisky before leaving early the next morning, the court was told.
More clear was a conversation Sweder had from his home phone, which was being tapped, with a friend later the same day who asked if there was someone planted in his cell.
"They do that, eh," the friend said and went to say his lawyer told him to never talk to anyone when brought in for questioning.
"When you're in a cell, you could be talking to a plant, right?," the friend said.
"I don't think he was, though," Sweder replied.
Moments later, Sweder called the undercover officer, who had left him his phone number, and while he did not say why, said he didn't feel well and asked to "pop by."
The officer said he'd call back and when Sweder did so, the
officer did not answer the phone.
In opening arguments, the jury was told Sweder does not deny taking credit for Letendre's murder but maintains he only did so "as an act of bravado to self aggrandize himself." It's expected Sweder will take the stand in his defence early next week to explain his actions.
It's the second time the case has gone to trial after the previous one ended in a hung jury in July 2010.
