Jury picked for Montreal gang murder trial

A jury has been selected to hear what is expected to be the lengthy trial of six men alleged to have been part of a conflict between gangs that resulted in at least three Montreal-area murders.

Superior Court Justice Éric Downs already had 16 jurors ready to go on Wednesday at the Gouin courthouse in northern Montreal to hear what is expected to be a six-month trial, but four of them asked to be removed.

That meant the judge had to select two more people to bring the panel to 14. Most of the candidates who appeared before Downs Wednesday morning asked to be exempted. Some said the amount paid to a juror in Canada was not enough to live on over such a long period of time.

For the people interested in being on a jury, Downs asked them a series of questions, including whether they could put aside an accused’s ethnicity and the prosecution’s theory that the accused are members of gangs like the Flamed Head Boys and 24 Gang.

All of the accused are charged with taking part in a conspiracy to murder members of a gang called Downtown Project between June 6, 2023 and Aug. 5, 2024.

Some of the accused are charged with the first-degree murders of Noel Garcia Frias, on June 16, 2023, Justice Owusu Tajudeen, on Aug. 7, 2023 and Christopher Shawn Jean Vilsaint, on May 14, 2024.

The accused are; Omed Jafar, 27, Johnny Odiesse, 34, Bradley Phanord-Barthelus, 27, Jack Shehata, 26, Romuald Surin, 33, and William Beauvais- Bazile, 27.

The Crown is expected to make its opening statement this afternoon.

This story will be updated.

The post Jury picked for Montreal gang murder trial appeared first on Montreal Gazette.