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Devin Morningstar refuses to testify at trial of Marissa Shephard

Devin Morningstar refuses to testify at trial of Marissa Shephard

A Crown witness in the Moncton murder trial of Marissa Shephard refused to testify Wednesday.

Not long after the lunch break, 20-year-old Devin Morningstar was brought to court in shackles and handcuffs and refused to promise to tell the truth.

Shephard is charged with first-degree murder and arson with disregard for human life in the death of 18-year-old Baylee Wylie.

Firefighters found Wylie's body in Shephard's burned-out New Brunswick Housing unit at 96 Sumac St. on Dec. 17, 2015.

Morningstar was in the custody of sheriffs Wednesday, when he was brought into court through the prisoner's box, where Shephard was sitting.

Dressed in a black sweatshirt and Adidas track pants, he looked at Shephard before he was led across the front of the courtroom toward the witness box.

Justice Zoël Dionne asked Morningstar whether he wanted to take an oath or make a solemn affirmation.

"Neither," Morningstar replied.

The judge then asked Morningstar if he was willing to solemnly affirm he would answer to the best of his ability and to tell the truth.

"Do you agree to do that?" the judge asked.

Morningstar replied no.

Victim's family leaves

As he was led away, Shephard was smiling, and members of the Wylie family ran from the courtroom.

Before the next witness started, the judge told the jury, "We will deal with Mr. Morningstar at a later time."

Morningstar's name came up earlier in the trial, when witness Claude LeBlanc testified about events overnight on Dec. 17, 2015.

LeBlanc told the Court of Queen's Bench last week that he was awakened at 4 a.m. by a crying Devin Morningstar, asking to be picked up on Sumac Street, in the Lewisville area of Moncton. Leblanc said he went to the street and picked up Morningstar and two other people, a man and a woman.

In court, LeBlanc said Shephard was "possibly" the woman he gave a ride to that night, but he couldn't positively identify her.

A number of police officers did testify Wednesday, including Const. Pierre Audoux, an RCMP officer with the major crimes unit.

He said that when Marissa Shephard was at large, police received 40 tips about her whereabouts, from British Columbia to Nova Scotia.

In the morning, the officer who arrested Shephard was back in the witness box for cross-examination by defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux.

Arsenault said a call came in on March 1, 2016, about Shephard, who was seen walking with two other people in an area off the Shediac Road, near where she was eventually arrested.

He said he pulled his vehicle over, looked up an embankment and saw three people, including a male he recognized as Stephen Nagle.

The three individuals didn't see Arsenault at first, and when they did, they were surprised, the Mountie said.

They "scrambled" away from the scene, and Arsenault lost sight of them. Then he spotted one of the individuals, a woman who was later identified as Krystal Toole.

Arsenault said he yelled "Police. Stop," and Toole stopped immediately.

Events were happening "fairly quickly," Arsenault said.

He was still the only officer on the scene when he saw a second woman and shouted at her to stop. Another officer, meanwhile, showed up and dealt with Toole.

Arsenault said his adrenaline was pumping, because he was making an arrest for first-degree murder, and he felt he had the right person.

The second woman he stopped was wearing aviator sunglasses, a teal tuque and a blue jacket, and Arsenault could only see the area around her mouth.

He said he told her to come toward him, and she did. When he asked the woman her name, she said it was Natalie.

Lemieux asked if this was Arsenault's first "first-degree murder" arrest, and he said yes.

"It's a pretty stressful time?" Lemieux asked.

Arsenault disagreed but then conceded.

"There is a stress level, yes."

Const. Philippe Presseau testified he was the second officer on the scene that day.

When he arrived, he saw two women and heard Arsenault ask the name of the one wearing aviator sunglasses and blue coat. Presseau said he heard her say a last name, Morris.

Court wrapped early because Crown prosecutor Annie St. Jacques said she had no other witnesses to call on Wednesday.

"We thought Morningstar would be longer than it was," she said. She offered to try again to get Morningstar to testify.

The judge said he'd be surprised if Morningstar answered any questions in the afternoon, and the court would have to decide how it should deal with him.

Court will not sit Thursday because a snowstorm is expected to hit Moncton. The trial will resume Friday at 9:30 a.m.

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After 2½ days spent selecting a jury, the Crown prosecutors started calling witnesses on March 12. The trial is expected to last another 2½ months.