Fern Bolduc, prosecution witness in the arson triple homicide trial of Liam Stinson, seemed to remember more details on April 11 after being allowed to see the transcript from his police interview in order to refresh his memory.
In his April 10 testimony, Bolduc did not say much other than “I don’t recall.”
Ongoing since March 18, Stinson is on trial for his alleged role in an April 11, 2021, arson that killed three people, including Stinsons estranged partner, Jamie-Lynn Rose, as well as Guy “Popcorn” Henri and Jasmine Somers.
Continuing testimony on the third anniversary of the fire, Bolduc recalled more about the night of the fatal fire, saying that evening he saw Stinson speak to the person who testified April 9 to starting the fire. Bolduc said he overhead them saying “something about going to do something,” and said he assumed “when I seen gas cans that they (Stinson, Witnesses 1 and 2) were up to something.”
After going over a statement he made to Greater Sudbury Police on April 24, 2021, following his arrest, Bolduc said “Liam was mad for some reason. The conversation was about burning down a house.”
Bolduc said when he left Stinson’s home at approximately 5 a.m. to get cigarettes, “that’s when I put two and two together. When I saw flames outside, fire trucks, I assumed that was what they were talking about.”
Bolduc also recalled being in an upstairs bedroom at Stinson’s home the evening of April 10, 2021, and into the early morning. He said it was in daylight hours of April 10 when he heard a fight break out between Stinson and Riley Roy.
Riley Roy, 27, was facing a charge of conspiracy to commit a break and enter, but pleaded guilty instead to attempting to obstruct police. The Crown withdrew the conspiracy charge against him, and Roy received a one-year conditional sentence order, including six months of house arrest and six months of a curfew. Details concerning the plea cannot be disclosed due to a publication ban.
Bolduc said he did not intervene in the fight, but went back upstairs, back to “just doing my thing,” which he later clarified meant further drug use.
Bolduc was also asked about his long-term substance abuse, and through questioning from both Crown and defence, established that he was a binge crack-cocaine user, and at the time of the fire, testified he had been up for 19 days straight, using the drug incessantly.
Thursday, after being read out the notes about his time in the washroom at the Radisson Hotel, Bolduc said he heard a loud knocking on the hotel room door and “there was a commotion and someone told (one of the two men who was at Stinson’s residence earlier) to get out.”
Wednesday, he told the court he could remember only a commotion, and then leaving with Stinson in a cab later.
Asked if he now had any memory of who it was who said to “get out,” Bolduc said it was Stinson.
The jury has heard from 12 witnesses since the start of trial, most recently, those who were with Stinson the night of the fire. Two witnesses testified to being party to starting the fire with Gatorade bottles filled with gasoline then thrown into a home at 744 Bruce Ave. One testified the fire was started at the direction of Stinson.
Since the start of the trial, the jury has heard details of the fatal fire from emergency services, and the cause of death and toxicology of the victims of the fire, as well as emotional testimony from witnesses including David Cheff, who testified to his harrowing experience trying to escape from the fire that claimed the lives of his friends.
In addition to a police officer who testified Rose was scared of Stinson, Christine Wright, Rose’s mother, testified that her daughter tried on several occasions to leave Stinson, and once Rose told her mother Stinson threatened to kill her children if she left.
On March 27, the court heard from a witness whose name and identifying details are covered under a publication ban. The witness detailed the night of the fire, which they spent with Stinson, testified they saw a large Gatorade filled with gas, and heard Stinson order the home to be firebombed.
The trial resumes today.
Jenny Lamothe is a reporter at Sudbury.com.
