Jury in Zakkary Reed's murder trial in Saint John retires after first day of deliberating

The jury in Zakkary Reed's first-degree murder trial retired for the night after about three hours of deliberations in Saint John. 

The 12-member jury began deliberations before 5 p.m. Wednesday and called it a day around 8 p.m. before being sequestered for the night in a hotel. 

When Reed was led back into the courtroom at 8:10 p.m. for the adjournment, he was no longer wearing the black suit and red tie from three hours earlier. That was replaced by a grey T-shirt. His eyes appeared red and he had bright red marks on his face. 

Instead of the usual single sheriff's deputy accompanying him, he had two. He was also handcuffed. 

Most jurors seemed to notice the change in Reed's appearance, but there was no mention of it during the brief  appearance.

Reed, 32, is on trial for the first-degree murder of Alexander Bishop, 38, on Aug. 20, 2023. 

On Wednesday morning, the jury heard the final summations from the Crown and defence lawyers. 

Since Reed testified in the trial, defence lawyer Annie Maltais went first. She reminded the jury that Reed admitted shooting Alexander Bishop in the chest, "but did so in self-defence." 

She said the bigger and taller Bishop had been getting "more hostile toward" Reed in the days leading up to the shooting. 

Maltais said the two argued repeatedly, including moments before the shooting. During that final argument, Reed said Bishop pulled a gun and pointed it at his face. 

She said Reed thought he wasn't going to get out alive and had "no other options."

As for Bishop's gun that was never found, Maltais had an explanation for that. 

Defence theory that eyewitness took gun

"It is the defence theory," said Maltais, that the eyewitness to the shooting, Hanna Graham, took the gun — along with a bag of fentanyl. 

After all, said Maltais, police didn't search Graham's bag when she was escorted out of the building and to the police station right after the shooting. 

And despite Graham's assertion on the stand that Reed was her best friend, Maltais said Reed was clear in his testimony that she was not his best friend. 

Definitely not a whodunnit, says Crown

Crown prosecutor Elaina Campbell told the jury the case "isn't a whodunnit," but rather about whether they believe Reed's self-defence claim. 

Campbell reminded the jury that Reed texted a lot. And in the nearly 300 pages of text messages from Reed in the days before the shooting, there wasn't a single message about fear, said Campbell. 

There were, however, several that showed he was feeling "unwanted and unsatisfied" and that he blamed Bishop for that. 

"Bishop held all the money and all the drugs. He wouldn't give Zakk a couple bucks," said Campbell." 

In the hours before the shooting, the messages also showed Reed "was jealous of Alex Bishop" after Graham arrived to see him, but spent most of the time with Bishop instead, said Campbell. 

She showed the jury several text messages from Reed in which he threatened to either kill or shoot Bishop. 

For example, "At 4:53, he knows he's going to shoot Bishop in the chest with a shotgun." That message, said Campbell, was sent 46 minutes before the 911 call. 

After texting almost constantly for hours, the last message from Reed was sent eight minutes before the 911 call. 

Campbell said Reed had the time and the "wherewithal to pack a bag" before he went to the backroom of the apartment and shot Bishop in the chest. 

She also reminded the jury that Graham testified about seeing the shooting. Graham said she and Bishop were smoking drugs in the back room when Reed walked through the doorway with a shotgun and shot Bishop in the chest. 

She said the whole thing took about three seconds. 

Campbell said Reed didn't just find a gun in the luggage at his feet, as he testified. She said he walked into the room with it. 

Graham said Bishop didn't have a handgun at the time of the shooting. Nor, she said, did she remove a gun or a bag of fentanyl when she left the apartment.

Campbell said the shooting wasn't self-defence. She said Reed became increasingly more angry in the hours leading up to the shooting. She said Reed was "mad — mad over women, drugs and money."