Accused killer made money stealing, selling firearms, witnesses tell court
The day before he allegedly gunned down three people, Mickell Bailey texted a friend to ask if he could drop by that night to pick up a shotgun.
"I'll hang out for a bit until I'm ready to go do the job," Bailey wrote to his friend, Jason Parrish, on Nov. 27, 2015, according to text messages retrieved from Bailey's cellphone.
Parrish testified Thursday in Edmonton Court of Queen's Bench.
Crown prosecutor Orest Yereniuk asked Parrish what he thought his friend meant in his text that day.
"At the time, I wasn't sure, because he was always stealing guns," Parrish said. "He had a lot of firearms. I thought maybe he could be picking up some more."
Bailey is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his 16-year old cousin, Jazmine Lyon, his aunt, Roxanne Berube, and his aunt's common-law partner, Daniel Miller.
Bailey's brother corroborated some of Parrish's testimony.
Brandon Bailey told court Thursday that in the past his brother had broken into people's homes to steal firearms.
He said he never took part in the thefts but did help sell the guns.
"One of the few ways Mickell would make some money would be stealing firearms and trying to sell them, right?" defence lawyer Nate Whitling asked.
"Yes," Brandon Bailey replied.
Witnesses say murder weapon was a stolen gun
Court has been told a 12-gauge, pistol-grip shotgun was used to commit the three murders.
Both Brandon Bailey and Parrish testified they were sure the weapon had been stolen.
Parrish, 19, said he wasn't sure who the gun had once belonged to.
"There were so many stolen guns, I didn't know which ones were whose," Parrish said.
The sale of stolen guns was common around Edson at the time of the killings, he said.
"There were deals going on over sandwiches," Parrish testified. "I'm not even kidding. You want a gun? Just take me to Subway and I'll get you one. There were lots of guns going around."
Parrish said he wasn't surprised when Mickell Bailey returned to his home the night of the murders with a number of weapons.
"I saw him with lots more guns than he had with him that night," Parrish said.
Lonnie Plante told court that Bailey tried to sell him those guns. Plante was dating Parrish's mother at the time.
"Mickell asked if I wanted to buy a gun," Plante testified. "I told him I wasn't interested. He said he'd sell it to me for seventy-five bucks. I told him I still wasn't interested."
Plante said Bailey dropped the price to $25, but he kept saying no.
"So then he said I'll sell you three rifles for one-hundred-fifty dollars."
He testified Bailey went out to his vehicle, returned with three rifles and began handing them to Plante.
Plante still said no.
"It just didn't sit right with me," he said. "I figured they were probably stolen or something."
Two days after the shootings, Brandon Bailey confronted his brother. He said he and Parrish asked Mickell Bailey why he had killed three people.
"All he said was, 'I don't know," Parrish testified. He said Mickell Bailey told him: "I think I'm just f---ed up."
Brandon Bailey said he was frustrated and upset with his brother.
"I got mad and swore at him a little bit. He kind of said he could understand that and just left."
The trial is scheduled to last three weeks.
