Hatchet, saw not used in murders

FREDERICTON, New Brunswick – A chain saw and hatchet seized from a man on trial for a pair of grisly murders, were not used to kill an elderly New Brunswick couple, an investigator testified Friday.

The tools were among several items seized by customs officers when Gregory Despres entered the U.S. at the Calais, Maine, border station on April 25, 2005 – the day before the bodies of Fred Fulton, 74, and Verna Decarie, 70, were found in their home in Minto, New Brunswick.

Fulton was decapitated, and Decarie had been stabbed numerous times.

Despres, who lived next door to the couple, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Greg Lupson, the lead investigator on the case, told the court the tools were ruled out as murder weapons.

Lupson also confirmed investigators had received a number of tips after the slayings but ruled out any other suspects.

The officer’s testimony was heard during a type of court hearing within a trial that is usually protected by a publication ban. But Judge Judy Clendenning, who is hearing the case alone, lifted the ban.

The hearing also dealt with the admissibility of other evidence, including a blood sample taken from Despres for DNA testing.

Clendenning said she will later decide if the testimony and sample can be admitted as evidence.

Despres was arrested on the night of April 26, 2005, in Mattapoisett, Mass., where he had once lived and worked.

Despres, who has dual Canadian and U.S. citizenship, was allowed through the Calais, border crossing into the U.S. despite the fact he was carrying a homemade sword, pepper spray, a knife and the chain saw and hatchet.

All the items were confiscated at the border.

Border guards at the Calais crossing testified that Despres seemed disoriented and described himself as a Marine sniper with 700 kills to his credit.

Still, the customs officials allowed Despres to enter Maine because he carried a valid U.S. passport and they had no reason to detain him.