Fourteen-year-old Hilary Bonnell, in 2007, resided with her mother Pam Fillier on the Esgenoopetitj Fist Nation Indian Reservation in northeastern Canada's New Brunswick Province. In 2008 the girl and her mother moved to Miramichi, New Brunswick, the largest town in the province. The teen had behavioral problems that included drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana and running away from home. Her mother, in an effort to help her daughter get control of her drinking and drug use, put Hilary into a group home for two months in the fall of 2008. Because Hilary Bonnell missed her old friends the girl's mother, in 2009, allowed the strong-willed teen to spend the summer on the reservation with her aunt.
On September 5, 2009, at 3:11 in the morning, Pam Fillier received a call from her daughter who sounded like she had been drinking. Hilary said she was at a party and having fun. Mother and daughter agreed to go shopping the next day. They would meet at the aunt's place on the reservation. Later that morning and throughout the day Hilary Bonnell did not show up at her aunt's house. Because of her history of running away and staying for days at the homes of friends, Hilary's mother didn't report her missing until September 7, two days after she went missing.
The missing persons case came under the jurisdiction of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Tracadie-Shelia, Canada. Sergeant Greg Lupson took charge of the investigation.
As time passed and the 16-year-old remained missing, the RCMP began considering the possibility of foul play. On September 19, 2009 Sergeant Lupson questioned the missing girl's 32-year-old first cousin, Curtis Bonnell as a person of interest. Curtis and Hilary had been captured on a 4D Convenience Store surveillance camera on the morning she disappeared. (They were not together, but in the store between 7 and 8 AM.) Curtis Bonnell denied any knowledge of his first cousin's disappearance.
On November 13, 2009 officers with the RCMP arrested Curtis Bonnell on the charge he had murdered Hilary Bonnell. When questioned in police custody the suspect admitted picking Hilary up in his truck as she walked along Micmac Road en route to her aunt's house. Curtis told the officers that he wanted to have sex with his cousin but when she demanded $100 for the act he got angry and sexually assaulted her. According to his account of her death, she died when he covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. He said he didn't intend to kill her.
After killing Hilary, the suspect, in a state of panic, drove her body to a remote area near the town of Tracadie-Sheila where he buried her corpse in the woods. Curtis Bonnell returned to his home (he lived with his father) and burned some of Hilary's personal items in his backyard. Following the confession Bonnell led officers to his cousin's remains.
On November 14, 2009, Dr. Ken Obenson performed the autopsy. The forensic pathologist identified the victim's cause of death as asphyxia. In Dr. Obenson's opinion the victim had either been strangled or smothered. The pathologist didn't find any fractures or injuries other than two cuts--one on Hilary Bonnell's hand and the other on her head near her eyebrow.
According to a toxicologist who worked on the case, the victim had evidence of cannabis and alcohol in her system.
The Curtis Bonnell first-degree murder case went to trial on September 17, 2012 in Miramichi, New Brunswick before a jury of six men and six women. The prosecutor for the Crown showed the jury a video of the defendant's police station confession. On October 22, Dr. Graham Bishop, a respiratory physician, took the stand and testified that it was plausible that Hilary Bonnell had died from someone sitting on her chest with his hands covering her nose and mouth. The witness said it was his expert opinion the victim had died the way the Crown believed she had been killed.
On cross-examination by defense attorney Gilles Lemieux, Dr. Bishop said it was also possible that the victim had somehow "self-smothered" under the effects of alcohol and drugs. The witness conceded that without "definitive proof" such as handprints or video surveillance, it was impossible to say for sure exactly how Hilary Bonnell had died.
The Crown rested its case on October 24, 2012, and five days later, the defense put Curtis Bonnell, its chief witness, on the stand. Dressed in a dark suit and a blue tie, the witness gave the jury a different story than the one he had given the RCMP. Mr. Bonnell said that on the morning of September 5, 2009 he woke up in his truck that was parked in his father's garage. Next to him in the front seat was slumped the body of a woman. At first he didn't know who she was so he climbed out of the vehicle and opened the passenger's side door. The woman, who he recognized as his cousin, started to fall out of the truck. Thinking that she was passed out from a night of drinking he grabbed her body that was cold and rigid. He panicked when he realized that Hilary Bonnell was dead. "What am I going to do?" he thought. "Nobody is going to believe me. I just got out of jail. Nobody's going to believe an Indian."
The defendant testified that he put Hilary's body into the bed of his truck, drove to the wooded area near Tracadie-Sheila and laid her on the ground with her sandals beside her. He drove back to his home to look for physical evidence that might link him to his dead cousin.
That night, according to Mr. Bonnell, he couldn't sleep because he was worried that animals might get to Hilary's body. The next day he took a shovel from his father's garage and drove to Tracadie-Sheila and the spot where he had placed her corpse. He put the body back into his truck and drove it to a different spot where he dug a shallow grave. He tossed the victim into the hole, shoveled in the dirt and drove home. (There had been prosecution testimony that the victim may have been buried alive.) Throughout his testimony the defendant denied having sex with his cousin or doing anything to cause her death.
On cross-examination Crown prosecutor Bill Richards challenged the defendant over numerous discrepancies between his police statements and his courtroom testimony. The blistering cross-examination lasted two days and at one point the defendant broke down in tears.
On re-direct, defense attorney Gilles Lemieux asked Curtis Bonnell why he had confessed to a crime he didn't commit. The defendant replied that he felt pressured and just wanted the interrogation to end. He told the RCMP officers what he figured they wanted to hear. The defendant also accused his interrogators of putting ideas into his head, suggesting incriminating details for him to include in his confession. According to Curtis Bonnell his police station confessions reflected the police theory of the case rather than what really happened that night in his pickup truck.
On October 31, 2012 the Bonnell defense put a forensic pathologist on the stand named Dr. David Chiasson. Dr. Chiasson, a pathologist with the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, said, "I don't think we have enough information [in this case] to make a homicide determination. You have a young woman buried in clandestine circumstances. I believe that is why a homicide determination was made." Under defense attorney Lemieux's guidance Dr. Chiasson said that Hilary Bonnell did not have any of the physical injuries he would expect to find had she been smothered by a hand forcibly held over her nose and mouth.
On cross-examination Dr. Chiasoon agreed with the prosecutor that if someone sat on the victim's chest while covering her nose and mouth it would have taken less force to smother her. The prosecutor also got the forensic pathologist to concede that the circumstances of this girl's death were, at the very least, "criminally suspicious."
On November 3, 2012 the Bonnell case jurors, after deliberating six hours, found the defendant guilty of first degree-murder. The Miramichi courtroom erupted in cheers. Curtis Bonnell's conviction carried with it an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.
Mr. Bonnell's attorney appealed his client's conviction to the New Brunswick Court of Appeals. Defense attorney Peter Corey argued that the trial judge should have given the jury the option of finding the defendant guilty of manslaughter. He asked the appellate justices to overturn the conviction.
Lawyers for the Crown and Curtis Bonnell presented their oral arguments before the appellate judges in April 2014.
On January 29, 2015, in a written decision, the New Brunswick appellate court declined to reverse the murder conviction. "There was no error," wrote Justice Kathleen Quigg, adding that the trial judge's instructions to the jury "were more than adequate."
On September 5, 2009, at 3:11 in the morning, Pam Fillier received a call from her daughter who sounded like she had been drinking. Hilary said she was at a party and having fun. Mother and daughter agreed to go shopping the next day. They would meet at the aunt's place on the reservation. Later that morning and throughout the day Hilary Bonnell did not show up at her aunt's house. Because of her history of running away and staying for days at the homes of friends, Hilary's mother didn't report her missing until September 7, two days after she went missing.
The missing persons case came under the jurisdiction of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Tracadie-Shelia, Canada. Sergeant Greg Lupson took charge of the investigation.
As time passed and the 16-year-old remained missing, the RCMP began considering the possibility of foul play. On September 19, 2009 Sergeant Lupson questioned the missing girl's 32-year-old first cousin, Curtis Bonnell as a person of interest. Curtis and Hilary had been captured on a 4D Convenience Store surveillance camera on the morning she disappeared. (They were not together, but in the store between 7 and 8 AM.) Curtis Bonnell denied any knowledge of his first cousin's disappearance.
On November 13, 2009 officers with the RCMP arrested Curtis Bonnell on the charge he had murdered Hilary Bonnell. When questioned in police custody the suspect admitted picking Hilary up in his truck as she walked along Micmac Road en route to her aunt's house. Curtis told the officers that he wanted to have sex with his cousin but when she demanded $100 for the act he got angry and sexually assaulted her. According to his account of her death, she died when he covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. He said he didn't intend to kill her.
After killing Hilary, the suspect, in a state of panic, drove her body to a remote area near the town of Tracadie-Sheila where he buried her corpse in the woods. Curtis Bonnell returned to his home (he lived with his father) and burned some of Hilary's personal items in his backyard. Following the confession Bonnell led officers to his cousin's remains.
On November 14, 2009, Dr. Ken Obenson performed the autopsy. The forensic pathologist identified the victim's cause of death as asphyxia. In Dr. Obenson's opinion the victim had either been strangled or smothered. The pathologist didn't find any fractures or injuries other than two cuts--one on Hilary Bonnell's hand and the other on her head near her eyebrow.
According to a toxicologist who worked on the case, the victim had evidence of cannabis and alcohol in her system.
The Curtis Bonnell first-degree murder case went to trial on September 17, 2012 in Miramichi, New Brunswick before a jury of six men and six women. The prosecutor for the Crown showed the jury a video of the defendant's police station confession. On October 22, Dr. Graham Bishop, a respiratory physician, took the stand and testified that it was plausible that Hilary Bonnell had died from someone sitting on her chest with his hands covering her nose and mouth. The witness said it was his expert opinion the victim had died the way the Crown believed she had been killed.
On cross-examination by defense attorney Gilles Lemieux, Dr. Bishop said it was also possible that the victim had somehow "self-smothered" under the effects of alcohol and drugs. The witness conceded that without "definitive proof" such as handprints or video surveillance, it was impossible to say for sure exactly how Hilary Bonnell had died.
The Crown rested its case on October 24, 2012, and five days later, the defense put Curtis Bonnell, its chief witness, on the stand. Dressed in a dark suit and a blue tie, the witness gave the jury a different story than the one he had given the RCMP. Mr. Bonnell said that on the morning of September 5, 2009 he woke up in his truck that was parked in his father's garage. Next to him in the front seat was slumped the body of a woman. At first he didn't know who she was so he climbed out of the vehicle and opened the passenger's side door. The woman, who he recognized as his cousin, started to fall out of the truck. Thinking that she was passed out from a night of drinking he grabbed her body that was cold and rigid. He panicked when he realized that Hilary Bonnell was dead. "What am I going to do?" he thought. "Nobody is going to believe me. I just got out of jail. Nobody's going to believe an Indian."
The defendant testified that he put Hilary's body into the bed of his truck, drove to the wooded area near Tracadie-Sheila and laid her on the ground with her sandals beside her. He drove back to his home to look for physical evidence that might link him to his dead cousin.
That night, according to Mr. Bonnell, he couldn't sleep because he was worried that animals might get to Hilary's body. The next day he took a shovel from his father's garage and drove to Tracadie-Sheila and the spot where he had placed her corpse. He put the body back into his truck and drove it to a different spot where he dug a shallow grave. He tossed the victim into the hole, shoveled in the dirt and drove home. (There had been prosecution testimony that the victim may have been buried alive.) Throughout his testimony the defendant denied having sex with his cousin or doing anything to cause her death.
On cross-examination Crown prosecutor Bill Richards challenged the defendant over numerous discrepancies between his police statements and his courtroom testimony. The blistering cross-examination lasted two days and at one point the defendant broke down in tears.
On re-direct, defense attorney Gilles Lemieux asked Curtis Bonnell why he had confessed to a crime he didn't commit. The defendant replied that he felt pressured and just wanted the interrogation to end. He told the RCMP officers what he figured they wanted to hear. The defendant also accused his interrogators of putting ideas into his head, suggesting incriminating details for him to include in his confession. According to Curtis Bonnell his police station confessions reflected the police theory of the case rather than what really happened that night in his pickup truck.
On October 31, 2012 the Bonnell defense put a forensic pathologist on the stand named Dr. David Chiasson. Dr. Chiasson, a pathologist with the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, said, "I don't think we have enough information [in this case] to make a homicide determination. You have a young woman buried in clandestine circumstances. I believe that is why a homicide determination was made." Under defense attorney Lemieux's guidance Dr. Chiasson said that Hilary Bonnell did not have any of the physical injuries he would expect to find had she been smothered by a hand forcibly held over her nose and mouth.
On cross-examination Dr. Chiasoon agreed with the prosecutor that if someone sat on the victim's chest while covering her nose and mouth it would have taken less force to smother her. The prosecutor also got the forensic pathologist to concede that the circumstances of this girl's death were, at the very least, "criminally suspicious."
On November 3, 2012 the Bonnell case jurors, after deliberating six hours, found the defendant guilty of first degree-murder. The Miramichi courtroom erupted in cheers. Curtis Bonnell's conviction carried with it an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.
Mr. Bonnell's attorney appealed his client's conviction to the New Brunswick Court of Appeals. Defense attorney Peter Corey argued that the trial judge should have given the jury the option of finding the defendant guilty of manslaughter. He asked the appellate justices to overturn the conviction.
Lawyers for the Crown and Curtis Bonnell presented their oral arguments before the appellate judges in April 2014.
On January 29, 2015, in a written decision, the New Brunswick appellate court declined to reverse the murder conviction. "There was no error," wrote Justice Kathleen Quigg, adding that the trial judge's instructions to the jury "were more than adequate."
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