Overdose likely cause of Brandon man's death, pathologist testifies at trial for alleged drug dealer

High amounts of MDA in a Brandon man's blood likely resulted in his overdose death, a forensic toxicologist testified Wednesday at a trial for the woman accused of selling the drugs he took before he died in July 2020.

Prosecutors allege Hailey Lepine, 25, sold the drugs that led to the death of Michael Crede, 30. Lepine is charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence and unlawfully trafficking a controlled substance, with prosecutors alleging she provided the drug knowing it to be a dangerous substance.

She has pleaded not guilty and is now on trial in a Brandon, Man., court.

The second day of the judge-only Court of King's bench trial began with testimony from now-retired pathologist Dr. Janetta Rossouw, who wrote Crede's autopsy report.

In the report, Rossouw described his death as an overdose, saying there was no other evidence of injury.

Rossouw told the court a toxicology report showed there was more MDA than there should be in the blood, indicating to her it was the cause of death.

"The only abnormality noted was the toxicology report," Rossouw said. "In the absence of anything else, the logic would dictate that that would be the cause of death."

On Tuesday, the trial heard from Crede's girlfriend, who testified that hours after she and Crede split a gram of MDMA, or ecstasy, on July 25, 2020, he began to shake and foam at the mouth before he ultimately became unresponsive.

She testified that Lepine sold her the drugs.

Rossouw told the court Wednesday that blood, urine and eye fluid were submitted to a toxicologist to test for drugs or alcohol in Crede's system.

A report by toxicologist Dr. Curtis Oleschuk, who also testified Wednesday, found Crede had a significant concentration of MDA in his system that would have been lethal.

MDMA and MDA are related substances within the amphetamine family. They can be taken separately, and the body breaks down MDMA into MDA.

Justice Elliot Leven asked Oleschuk how MDA can be lethal.

In high doses, users may have convulsions, seizures or a heart attack, Oleschuk said.

"All of those are potentially lethal."

He noted there was no alcohol detected, but samples tested positive for benzoylecgonine — a byproduct of metabolized cocaine.

Oleschuk did not test the substance used by Crede.

Defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn questioned whether there was a possibility Crede could have died from another health issue, like a naturally occurring heart attack, but Rossouw told the court there was no evidence to support that conclusion.

Lepine is expected to testify Thursday before closing arguments.