Witness at 3-man murder trial says Andrew Bellegarde told her he shot Reno Lee

A witness in a three-man murder trial said in her testimony that Andrew Bellegarde shot Reno Lee in April 2015. 

Under the second day of cross-examination, the witness — whose identity is under a court-ordered publication ban — was questioned about alleged conversations she had with Bellegarde after the killing of Lee on April 16, 2015. 

Bellegarde has pleaded not guilty first-degree-murder and committing an indignity to a body in the death and dismemberment of Lee, as have co-accused Daniel Theodore and Bronson Gordon. 

Lee's remains were found on the Star Blanket First Nation on April 30, 2015, but it was later determined he died in Regina.

The witness testified that Bellegarde was one of her best friends, saying he called her "sis."

In the days that followed the incident, she and Bellegarde continued hanging out and talking. 

"Based on what I was told, it was [Bellegarde] who pulled the trigger," the witness said, adding it was Bellegarde who told her that. 

'He was earning his patch'

The witness said he told her "it was the craziest thing he experienced."

"He told me by shooting him, he was earning his patch with Indian Mafia," she said under cross-examination Thursday by Theodore's lawyer, George Combe. 

Court heard in a gang, "patch" meant a boss or a high ranking. 

According to the witness's testimony, Bellegarde was a member of the street gang Indian Mafia, and she herself was part of the Saskatchewan Warriors and Alberta Warriors. 

Saskatchewan's chief forensic pathologist testified earlier on in the trial that Lee died of two gunshot wounds to the head. 

The witness testified about seeing Bellegarde emerge from Gordon's apartment on Angus Road with a gun, which she described as a "small calibre" rifle.

Court also heard from the witness she saw Bellegarde come "barrelling" up the stairs from a basement of the Garnet Street home where Lee was later transported.

The witness said Bellegarde had a gun and that she was woken up by the sound of a gunshot. 

Once upstairs, Bellegarde described what had just happened as a "rush," court heard. 

"I meant it to understand the rush of shooting somebody," the woman said Thursday. 

Under cross-examination, she said she and Theodore helped cover up the killing, adding afterwards that Theodore was telling them what to do. 

"I was not aware that [Lee] was going to be getting cut up," the woman told the court, crying. 

"When I woke up to that sound I knew what was happening."

On Thursday, she said after returning from the site where Lee's remains were buried, that Gordon and Bellegarde had a conversation where some sort of payment, money and TV was discussed in the context of Bellegarde doing a good job.

The Crown concluded its case on Thursday. The trial will resume next week.