Key witness testifies at double-murder trial

The jury in a Manitoba double-murder trial began hearing testimony from the Crown's key witness, a one-time friend of the accused killer.

Steven Solomon told jurors Tuesday afternoon that he first met Kelly Clarke at the Stony Mountain penitentiary around 2007. The two began hanging out after they were released, he said.

Clarke, 41, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of Joel Labossiere, 34, and his wife, Magdalena, 33, who were found shot "execution-style" in their St. Vital home on April 20, 2008.

Clarke's trial beganNov. 16 in Winnipeg.

On Tuesday, Solomon testified that whenhe and Clarke were out of prison, he would drive Clarke around for errands.

Solomon said that in March 2008, he and Clarke went to the St. Leon, Man., where Denis Jerome Labossiere, an uncle of Joel Labossiere, lived.

Courtearlier heard that Jerome Labossierehas been charged with three counts of first-degree murder after his parents, Fernand and Rita Labossiere, and his brother Remi were found dead in their St. Leon farm after a fire in 2005.

Clarkesaid they were going to a barbecue and "to meet Frenchie"a reference to Jerome Labossiere, according to Solomon.

Was asked to remove phone battery

Solomon testified that Clarke asked him to remove the battery from his cellphone on their way out of Winnipeg. Solomon said he never asked why.

Upon arriving at Jerome Labossiere's farm, they went out to a garage, drank beer, snorted cocaine and talked for a couple of hours, court was told.

According to Solomon, Jerome Labossiere told the men he believes a neighbour, with the participation of Joel Labossiere and another man, were involved in his parents' deaths and a fire that destroyed their home.

Labossiere also said he had a suitcase with $70,000 in cash in their home when it was burned to the ground, according to Solomon's testimony.

Later that night, on their way back to Winnipeg, Clarke told Solomon of a plot directed by Jerome Labossiere to kidnap and torture the neighbour in order to extract a videotaped confession from the man, Solomon testified.

Solomon said he was tired from being up all weekend and he didn't really want anything to do with the plan, so he tried to avoid the subject on the rest of the drive home.

Solomon said he did not mention the plan to anyone else or contact police about it.

Solomon testified that some time later, he was driving Clarke around when they stopped at a Winnipeg gas station for a pre-arranged meeting with a man who jumped in the back, spoke for a bit, then left a double-barrelledsawed-off shotgun and some shells on the seat.

Court was told that Clarke took the weapon with him, but after an argument he eventually convinced Solomon to leave the shotgun under the spare tire in the back of his car.

Solomon's testimony on Tuesday ended after he spoke about a meeting with Jerome Labossiere and Clarke on April 18, 2008, at a halfway house.

The jury is expected to hear more testimony from Solomon, as well as cross-examination, on Wednesday.