On charges of criminal negligence causing death, Jean-Claude Savoie’s trial goes into week 2. Some background on the case:
The victims, Connor Barthe, 6, and Noah Barthe 4, were killed by a python on Aug. 5, 2013; were at a sleepover in Savoie’s apartment; the python killed them by asphyxiation.
Savoie, operated Reptile Ocean, an unlicensed zoo and pet store; Mandy Trecartin and her two boys were his next door neighbors; Trecartin testified he was her best friend.
The Canadian Wildlife Service turned a juvenile African rock python over to Savoie in 2002 after taking possession of it in Saint John.
Dr. James Goltz, a veterinary pathologist, performed a necropsy on the python:
- Length: 12 feet, four inches (3.8 metres)
- Weight 53 pounds (24 kilograms)
- Circumference: 12 inches (30 centimetres)
- Diameter: 4.25 inches (10.8 centimetres)
Constable Eric Maillet testified that after the python was put back in the enclosure, it rose straight up in the air, hissed and lunged at the Plexiglas wall between them with its jaws open several times. Ocean Eagles, a volunteer at the pet store, testified it was normal behavior as the python did that routinely.
A ventilation cover was missing from an air duct above the snake’s enclosure. Eagles testified: “it was always on the floor” and she thought it needed to be secured. The boyfriend of Trecartin, testified he saw the vent cap on the floor at least once but neither thought much of its creating a possible escape route for the python.
Savoie is charged with two counts of criminal negligence causing death – carrying a maximum sentence of imprisonment for life.
A jury of seven women and four men is hearing the case. A female juror was discharged by the judge on Friday from recommendations of both the defense and the Crown. No reason was given for the discharge of the juror.
The judge told the jury to expect closing arguments in the case Wednesday morning. They will be sequestered until they reach a verdict.
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