Footprints at crime scene match boots seized from Despres, court hears

Footwear impressions left at the scene where Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie died match a combat boot seized from Gregory Despres, an RCMP forensic expert testified Wednesday.

Despres, 25, is on trial for two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his elderly neighbours, who were founddead in their Minto, N.B., home on April 26, 2005. Fulton, 74, and Decarie, 70, were both stabbed repeatedly, and Fulton was decapitated. Despreshas pleaded not guilty.

Retired RCMPofficer Don Hulsman told the Court of Queen's Bench in Fredericton on Wednesday that 25 footprints left at the scene matched the zigzag pattern on the sole of Despres's black Canadian army boots.

The boots were taken from Despres's backpack when he was arrested by Massachusetts state police officers early on April 27, 2005.

The impressions were found in the mud room, kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom of the slain couple's home, Hulsman said.

Some of the impressions made by the boots were not visible to the naked eye and had to be sprayed with a special agent that interacts with blood to enhance visibility, he said.

Many of the prints could have been made by boots of the same make as those seized from Despres, Hulsman said. But two of the prints, found in the kitchen and living room, had unique characteristics that would only match marks on Despres's left boot, Hulsman testified.

Despres's left boot had a large gouge and a tear on the sole.

The irregular shape, length, width and depth of the mark were unique to the boot and were found in the prints at the crime scene, Hulsman said.

"For that to occur again in another boot is impossible," Hulsman told reporters outside the courthouse.

The evidence is scientifically recognized and places the boots seized from Despres at the crime scene, he said.

Despres acted like a prisoner of war

In other testimony Wednesday, retired RCMP staffsergeant Jacques Ouellette said he went to Massachusetts to look at the items that were seized by U.S. officers when Despres was arrested.

The items included the combat boots, a bank card, a bulletproof vest and a jacket.

Ouellette also met Despres but in their short conversation, Despres just repeated the same thing over and over, he testified.

"It's almost like he was a prisoner of war," Ouellette said. "He would repeat a number and say 'You were refused access to me. I am an American citizen. You can't speak to me.'"

It sounded like Despres was giving his name, a rank and a serial number, Ouellette said.

RCMP Const. Greg Lupson testified that a hatchet and chainsaw thatwere seized from Despres when he crossed the Canada-United States border at Calais, Maine, on April 25, were not linked to the crime scene.

Lupson said that a warrant was issued in January 2006 to take a DNA sample from Despres for analysis.

Other suspects had been considered in the police's investigation, Lupson testified, but they were later ruled out as possibilities.

Second trial for Despres

This is Despres's second trial. It is being heard by judge alone.

His first trial was halted in February after he exhibited bizarre behaviour in the courtroom. After a psychiatric assessment, he was declared unfit to stand trial in April and ordered to undergo treatment for paranoid schizophrenia.

In July, a provincial review board ruled Despres had responded well to psychiatric treatment, understood the court proceedings and the charges against him, and was fit to stand trial again.