Jury hears testimony in Thomas Bodechon murder trial in Regina

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Norman Schneider couldn’t see too well, but he believed his ears were working just fine.

It was Oct. 18, 2021. He was over at his nephew Kade Luke Neapetung’s place on Angus Street, sitting in the living room. Neapetung was arguing with a man who showed up to the Regina house. It was the same guy who’d been there a few days before and “poked” his nephew with a knife, Schneider later said during a police interview.

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The man was accusing Neapetung of calling the cops, Schneider said, noting his nephew responded that he hadn’t pressed charges and proceeded to tell him to get the hell out of his house.

Then his nephew came walking into the living room.

“I thought it was all over with and all of a sudden I heard that big boom.”

After seeing Neapetung hit the floor, Schneider said he ran for his life and then called police.

The blast set in motion a police investigation, a search for a suspect, a first-degree murder charge and now the trial of Thomas Louis Bodechon, who pleaded not guilty March 24 in Regina’s Court of King’s Bench.

Since then, the trial has heard from multiple police and civilian witnesses. Schneider could not be called to testify because he has since died, so a video of his police statement was played for jurors.

The testimony followed an opening statement from Crown prosecutor Nathanial Scipioni, who told jurors he expects they will hear through the trial that both Bodechon and Neapetung had feelings for a woman — Keleisha Jackson. Scipioni said he expects they will hear Jackson was dating Bodechon, despite living with Neapetung. And the prosecutor told jurors he expects they will hear evidence of Bodechon plotting to kill someone before saying he did precisely that.

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Despite being asked repeatedly by police, Schneider could not offer much of a visual description of the man he believes shot his nephew, aside from saying he had a “darker complexion” like he was “half-Indian or something.”

He later qualified: “I can’t see worth a shit.”

But Schneider said he knew it was one of the men who had come to collect some of a woman’s belongings on Oct. 16, 2021. Neapetung mentioned the name “Thomas” in relation to the incident, Schneider told police.

Investigation and arrest

Regina Police Service (RPS) Const. Brandon Boon testified he was first to respond to the Angus Street location on Oct. 16, 2021. Jackson was at the home, as was another man, he said. However, under cross-examination by defence lawyer Bhavan Jaggi, the officer said he did not see Bodechon at the home.

He testified Jackson was collecting belongings and Neapetung looked “disgusted” with her. Neapatung later showed him a wound on his left arm near the inside of his elbow joint.

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When police arrived on scene two days later, after being called by Schneider, they found Neapatung on the floor with a shotgun wound on his upper back. RPS Const. Curtis Warnar told court that he photographed the scene, including injuries to Neapatung, in his capacity as a forensic investigator. Warnar testified that from the scene he seized two pieces of what he described as shotgun wadding (part of a shotgun shell that is expelled when fired) and pellets.

RPS Sgt. Claudio Serrano, one of the lead investigators, said police considered Bodechon a suspect after conducting interviews.

However, Bodechon would not be arrested until several days later, on Oct. 25, 2021, after police issued a wanted notice. He was located in Saskatoon, where he’d barricaded himself in a garage before attempting to set fire to it, Serrano testified, noting a shotgun in a backpack was seized at the scene.

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It was not the last the jury would hear of a gun and a backpack.

Romance, teeth and violence

Taylor Hawkes told court he was best friends with Neapetung and said Bodechon used to be “a brother” to him.

He described Neapetung as being “obsessed” with Jackson, who lived with him but “didn’t want to be there.” Hawkes said he “guessed” that, by October of 2021, Jackson and Bodechon were romantically involved.

Prosecutor David Belanger asked Hawkes about the morning of Oct. 18, 2021 — the day Neapetung was shot.

Hawkes said Bodechon showed up at his house on Rae Street (not far from Neapetung’s place) with a “native guy” he didn’t know. Bodechon had a backpack with him and in it was a shotgun that he displayed.

The witness provided a description of the gun that matched a police photo of a seized firearm.

“He asked me for teeth,” Hawkes testified, clarifying he meant ammunition.

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However, he did not provide any, Hawkes noted.

The witness said Bodechon told him he planned to go shoot Neapetung. This upset Hawkes and he told Bodechon not to follow through, he testified.

Hawkes said he told Bodechon to put the gun away before his girlfriend, Jean Atherton, saw it.

Atherton told court she did see the gun when Bodechon showed it to her in her bedroom, adding that she also saw two “bullets” in his backpack. She too testified that, after he’d told her of his plans, she asked Bodechon not to shoot Neapetung — whom she also described as her best friend.

Atherton testified she hadn’t seen Bodechon with anyone else then.

Both witnesses testified Bodechon left their home, only to return a short time later.

Atherton said when he returned he was with a “short native” man. She explained that a sweaty Bodechon collapsed on the living-room floor, where he couldn’t catch his breath. He later changed his shirt, she added.

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Hawkes noted that Bodechon was “panting” but said he appeared “happy and glad.”

Both witnesses testified that Bodechon told them at the time that he had shot Neapetung. After this, they said, Bodechon and the other man left their home. Hawkes said he gave them bicycles that belonged to him.

When Belanger was questioning Hawkes about the other man who was said to be with Bodechon, the witness became upset.

“He’s the one who shot him,” Hawkes said, referring to the man on trial.

Drugs and memory

Under cross-examination, Jaggi tested the memory of the two witnesses, who both confirmed they’d been smoking crystal methamphetamine on the date in question.

“I was a big meth head,” Hawkes acknowledged.

However, he told the defence lawyer that his memory was “photographic.”

Atherton acknowledged she can’t remember everything that happens when she is high, but said she wasn’t “that high” on the date in question and remembers what was said.

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Both stated they’d smoked methamphetamine with Bodechon.

Hawkes told Jaggi the date Bodechon showed him the gun was Oct. 16, 2021 and he became upset when the lawyer questioned him about other instances he may have seen Bodechon.

When pressed, both witnesses denied being told what to say in court.

The trial is scheduled to continue into April. The defence has not yet had an opportunity to call evidence.

bharder@postmedia.com

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