Richard Bain: 'I don't consider them lies. I just consider them trying to get what I need.'
Accused murderer says he lied about the reason he went to the Metropolis to draw people to Facebook
Under cross-examination, accused murderer Richard Bain admitted to the jury that he's lied three times since he was arrested for the 2012 election-night shooting.
"So you've told the jury ... that you're willing to lie when it suits your purposes?" Crown prosecutor Dennis Galiatsatos asked on Friday.
"Don't we all?" Bain answered. "I don't consider them lies. I just consider them trying to get what I need."
Bain is accused of first-degree murder for shooting and killing a man outside Montreal's Metropolis nightclub on Sept. 4, 2012, while the Parti Québécois celebrated its election win inside. Another man was seriously injured.
Bain lied to attract Facebook buzz
In court on Friday, Bain admitted to bending the truth on three different occasions.
In an audio recording posted to his Facebook page, Bain stated the reason he went to the Metropolis that night was "so that Marois would not be able to make her speech."
But he testified this week that claim was a lie, told in order to draw people to his Facebook page so that they would donate money towards a fund for Bibles, the victims' families and his own defence.
Another lie has to do with a 2013 meeting in the middle of the night between Bain and Sgt-Det. Daniel Prieur.
Prieur went to meet Bain in jail at 1 a.m. because he was told he had a confession to make.
Bain testified that was a "fallacy" he made up to get provincial police officers to come see him. He explained to the jury that he didn't understand why he was being guarded by corrections officers instead of provincial police, and that made him afraid for his life.
The final lie has to do with a chainsaw that was found in Bain's SUV, parked outside the Metropolis the night of the deadly shooting.
"You said you lied to Det. Prieur about the chainsaw not being yours, because you thought they would let you give it to a needy farmer?" the prosecutor asked Bain in court on Friday.
The accused confirmed that was the truth.
Bain first entered the witness box on Monday, testifying as part of the defence's attempt to prove that he should not be held criminally responsible for the shooting, which left one person dead and another person seriously injured.
The Crown, on the other hand, is arguing the shooting was pre-meditated and politically-motivated.
Crown suggests link to Blue Bird Club arson
Earlier on Friday, during cross-examination, the Crown suggested that Bain told a psychiatrist he wanted to set fire to the Metropolis to stop people from escaping on the night of the deadly shooting.
Bain said he had no memory of telling a psychiatrist that.
The Crown referred to two different interactions Bain had with Dr. Marie-Frédérique Allard in the weeks and months following the Sept. 4, 2012 shooting.
The Crown asked if it was true that Bain told Dr. Allard he wanted to set fire to the Metropolis, just like a deadly fire at a Montreal nightclub almost 40 years to the date of the election-night shooting.
Bain testified that he didn't remember ever suggesting that.
On Friday, Bain was grilled by Crown prosecutor Dennis Galiatsatos, who asked if he remembered telling Dr. Allard that his "plan was like the Blue Bird Club fire?"
The Blue Bird Club fire was an arson that left 37 people dead at a Montreal nightclub on Sept. 1, 1972.
While Bain acknowledged that he did communicate with the psychiatrist, he couldn't recall what he told her.
Crown: Did you want to be a martyr?
The prosecutor pressed harder, asking Bain if he remembered telling Dr. Allard he had military-grade bullets that would shoot through 10 people if they were lined up in a row.
He also asked if it's true that Bain told the psychiatrist he took two Cymbalta pills to have the guts to carry out what had come into his mind.
Bain said he doesn't remember any of that.
Galiatsatos asked Bain if he was prepared to die the night of the shooting, and if he wanted to be a "martyr" for the rights of the English-speaking community.
Bain said that no, that wasn't true, and told the prosecutor he was "fabricating."
Bain corrects his story
Bain was also questioned about a trip he took to Las Vegas in 2011.
He'd previously testified that he bought a pair of Ferragamo shoes for $525 because he was under the influence of an anti-depressant called Cymbalta.
Bain has blamed his actions the night of the deadly shooting on the same drug, which he testified makes it difficult for him to tell right from wrong.
But on Friday morning, he corrected himself while under the Crown's microscope.
"So when you said earlier in your testimony, you bought $525 dollar shoes because that's what you do when you're on Cymbalta, you actually weren't on Cymbalta?" Galiatsatos asked.
Bain confirmed he was actually on a different anti-depressant at the time, called Effexor. But he added that Effexor had a similar influence on his behaviour.
The trial is expected to last until the end of July.
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