Byron Lee Bear was reported missing on Dec. 6, 2021 and his remains were found roughly two months later near Rosthern. (Prince Albert Police Service)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

‘I didn’t know there was a body in there’: witness testifies at Prince Albert murder trial

Apr 29, 2024 | 5:00 PM

Editor’s note: the following story contains graphic details of violence that some readers may be sensitive to or find disturbing.

On the cold December morning Byron Bear was shot and killed outside a home in Prince Albert’s midtown area, there were multiple people armed there with illegal guns and they had all been consuming cocaine.

That’s according to the first witness at the Kyle Burns murder trial, which commenced on Monday at Court of King’s Bench in Prince Albert.

With respect to the events on Dec. 6, 2021, Bear is alleged to have committed second degree murder.

Jackson Henry, who was also one of the five men charged, testified that in the hour preceding the shooting, he and two others went to the Midtown residence where Burns lived, having received information there was someone coming to cause trouble. Upon arrival, the three men then hung out at the residence with Burns and proceeded to consume alcohol and cocaine.

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“All of a sudden I heard a bang,” Henry recalled, testifying Burns jumped to his feet and pulled out two shotguns from the couch. Another man, who had been downstairs, also came upstairs and was holding a handgun.

Henry explained when they looked outside they could see someone was standing beside a black Mercedes parked in the driveway. After smashing the back window, they were pouring in gasoline. That’s when Burns and Riley Primeau took positions by the open door, and began firing with their respective shotguns.

“I heard a lot of shots,” Henry recalled, adding there were so many though he did not know whether it was coming from the back deck or if the person in the driveway was firing back.

When the shooting stopped, Henry stated he tried to run, but was stopped by Burns and given the guns to dispose. Henry then who ran to a friend’s house, testified that as he was passed through an alley, he threw the guns away, not paying any attention as to where they landed.

A picture of the incident’s location. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Later that morning Henry said he returned to his own house and among the people there were two of the men who had been at Burns’ house. The two men informed Henry they were going to Saskatoon and told him to join them.

Near Rosthern, the driver turned off on a back road and stopped. That’s when Henry claimed the two men in the car got out, pulled a body out of the trunk and then dumped it.

“I didn’t know there was a body in there,” Henry stated. “I was kinda shocked.”

From there the three men then drove the rest of the Saskatoon as one of the other men had family there. Along the way, said he was told to keep quiet about what happened.

Once arriving in the city, the group first stopped to buy some duct tape to fix the broken window and Henry was the one told to go inside the store.

The men then drove to an address on the city’s east side and remained at the house for the rest of the day. While there, Henry, testified he was given a haircut, as there were concerns his face was captured by the gas station’s security camera. Also during the course of the day, the black Mercedes that had been left parked on the street, was towed away.

“It was surrounded by cops and a tow truck,” Henry recalled.

The driver and owner of the vehicle left later that night to an unknown location and Henry, along with the other men, took a cab ride back to Prince Albert at a cost of $175.

Once returning to Prince Albert, Henry said he returned to his own home and the other man stayed with him for a few days before taking off.

“He was pretty paranoid,” Henry said.

When asked if he had since talked to any of the co-accused, or received any threats not to talk, Henry replied no.

As Henry did not provide a statement to police, and was sharing his side of the story for the first time, defence lawyer Evan Strelioff requested and was granted an adjournment to Tuesday morning for cross-examination.

Also charged in the case was Riley Primeau, who was sentenced last February to a term of eight years for manslaughter. While Primeau was not the one to shoot Bear, he was still considered a party to the offence.

Jackson Henry, Daniel Oliver and Raine Farrow all have pending trial dates.

Agreed statement of facts

Prior to Jackson Henry taking the stand, the Crown prosecutor filed an agreed statement of facts.

Here are some facts of note:

• The autopsy determined the official cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head and multiple bullet fragments were recovered from the victim’s skull.
• Kyle’s cellphone was seized by police and contained evidence of a warning that Byron Bear and a second man were coming to the home.
• Audio recordings captured by the home’s security camera contained statements such as “we gotta put him in the trunk bro”, “we need a bag”, and “moment of truth, let’s go man.”
• After the shooting incident, witnesses reported seeing two to four people come out of the house and kick a body that was on the ground, before loading it into the trunk of the car.
• Outside the home, police found a “large amount” of coagulated/ frozen blood; a red jerry can; multiple bullet casings; and a partially burnt SGI permit.

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nigel.maxswell@pattrisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell