Nearly a decade after three Ottawa seniors were brutally killed, the trial of their accused murderer got underway on Wednesday.
Ian Bush is accused of killing three seniors in June 2007: retired tax judge Alban Garon, his wife Raymonde and their neighbour and close friend Marie-Claire Beniskos.
Garon was found with a “hangman noose,” having suffered blunt force trauma to his head. His wife and their friend were found hog-tied and suffocated.
All three were found with plastic bags over their heads.
The Crown told the jury that years after the crime, police seized a black bag in Bush’s home. In it there were ropes, duct tape, a rifle, and plastic bags. And they found a list titled “process” which looked like a recipe for murder.
Crown attorney Tim Wightman said the case will focus on forensic evidence, including a bloody footprint and hair left at the scene.
Garon’s brother Jean-Pierre Lurette was the first to discover the gruesome crime scene, after calls to the Garons went unanswered.
He was the first witness to testify on Wednesday.
“I was very nervous. I couldn’t understand why we couldn’t find Raymonde, Marie-Clarie and Alban. The door was unlocked,” he said in court. “I saw three people bleeding on the carpet of the living room. I left. I called 911.”
Bush, a human resources consultant, was described as showing an arrogant attitude towards government, with views that taxation was unfair. He documented those in his journal, which was found during a search of his home.
“It’s your money. Take it back by force,” one entry read.
The Crown contends Bush was “enraged” by the way he’d been treated by Revenue Canada. Garon, a former chief justice of the tax court, had become a focal point for his anger.
Thursday a building handyman is expected to testify.
