Suspect in double slaying has outburst during trial

FREDERICTON, New Brunswick – A courtroom got a glimpse Wednesday of Gregory Despres’ behavior, not only in testimony about past incidents but from an unintelligible courtroom outburst.

Despres, 25, of Minto, New Brunswick, is on trial for the second time on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his neighbors.

Fred Fulton, 74, and Verna Decarie, 70, were found dead in their Minto home on April 26, 2005, the victims of a violent attack believed to have occurred two days before.

Among those testifying Wednesday was Frederick Mowat, Fulton’s grandson, whom Despres had menaced with a knife on Aug. 21, 2004.

Mowat testified that at the assault trial in March 2005, Despres, who represented himself, alleged Mowat had stabbed him years earlier.

“I didn’t know what he was talking about,” Mowat said Wednesday. “He said I was part of a terrorist group or al-Qaida or something.”

Despres was annoyed with Mowat’s testimony, muttering and cursing from the prisoner’s box.

It wasn’t clear what he said, and Justice William Grant quickly motioned for Despres to be quiet.

Despres’ first trial, held in January and February, was halted when concerns arose that he was mentally unfit.

A new psychiatric assessment was ordered in early February after Despres went on a 10-minute courtroom rant about his status as a pilot, his affiliation with the “Super Space Patrol” and an accusation that his lawyer was an al-Qaida operative.

During an April hearing, he was deemed unfit. He was also medicated for paranoid schizophrenia, and after a review board hearing in July, he was found fit to stand trial again.

He was sedated at that July hearing and has been throughout the proceedings of the second trial, until Wednesday.

Aside from those brief but angry comments, Despres was silent for the rest of the proceedings.

After the murders, Despres crossed into the U.S. at the border crossing at Calais, Maine, where he was allowed to enter the country because he held a valid U.S. passport. Despres has both Canadian and U.S. citizenship.

Border officials seized many of the items Despres had with him when he crossed the border, including a sword, a hunting knife, a hatchet and a large chain saw.