Tearful Amherstburg woman testifies in fentanyl trafficking case
In emotional courtroom testimony Wednesday, Patty MacLellan recounted the night she found her son-in-law dead on her bathroom floor after a fentanyl overdose.
MacLellan is a prosecution witness in a drug trafficking trial against two Amherstburg residents, Caroline and Lorne Wagner. Both defendants have pleaded not guilty.
The couple was charged in July 2015 with selling their prescribed fentanyl patches to MacLellan's son Dean Trombley, who has long battled drug addiction.
MacLellan told the court about the night her son Dean was allegedly sold the drugs. That's when she came home and to find her son-in-law Rob Myles had overdosed on her bathroom floor.
In the following days, MacLellan gave police her son's phone and wallet. Both items are expected to be introduced into evidence.
Caroline had long been a family friend, MacLellan told the court. The two of them grew up together, went to school together and were neighbours at one point. Even their daughters became close friends.
The Crown's first witness of the day was Caroline's daughter Ashley Delisle. Avoiding eye contact with both defendants, Delisle said she found packaging for a Fentanyl patch in her parents' car and asked if either had a prescription.
Delisle testified she was told that Lorne had a prescription. She said she witnessed an online conversation with Trombley about whether he wanted patches costing $400.
Both Caroline and Lorne were part of a fentanyl patch exchange program, according to testimony from a pharmacist and pharmacist assistant.
