John Dillon Brown thought he was going to receive money in exchange for dropping a lawsuit for injuries he received in a fight with bikers at the Voodoo Lounge in Campbell River.
Instead, he was shot in the back of the head and stuffed in the trunk of his car, which was abandoned on the side of the road 75 kilometres north of Campbell River.
That information was revealed Tuesday on the first day of Richard Ernest Alexander’s trial for the first-degree murder of Brown on March 11, 2016.
With his defence lawyer by his side, Alexander, the former president of the Devil’s Army Motorcycle Club, stood, looked directly at the jury and in a loud voice entered a plea of not guilty.
Crown prosecutor Lorne Phipps told the jury that Brown’s murder was set in motion in November 2015 when a group of Hells Angels travelled to Campbell River to hang out with members of the Devil’s Army, their support club.
Some members from both groups went to a nightclub called the Voodoo Lounge. In the early morning of Nov. 22, a fight broke out between the bikers and Brown.
The jury will hear that Brown, 30, was a construction worker, a low-level drug dealer and a competitive amateur MMA fighter, said Phipps. He held his own against the group of bikers, but he was injured.
The jury will hear that Brown got a video of the fight that was captured on the club’s surveillance system. He decided to sue the Voodoo Lounge and tried to recruit people to be witnesses in his lawsuit, said Phipps.
The jury will also hear that Alexander contacted Brown because he wanted to resolve the matter. Over the next number of weeks, Brown exchanged messages and phone calls with Alexander. The pair met in January and February 2016 and a final meeting was arranged on March 11, 2016, said Phipps.
Evidence will reveal that Brown went to the Devil’s Army club house believing he would be picking up money in exchange for dropping the lawsuit, Phipps said. But Brown was invited into the secluded basement and a few minutes later, Alexander shot him in the back of the head, said the Crown.
The jury can expect to hear evidence that Alexander put a bag over Brown’s head and placed his body in the trunk of his car with the help of another member of the Devil’s Army, Phipps said. Alexander then drove Brown’s car north to Sayward, parked it at the side of the road and left it there.
The evidence will unfold in three parts, said Phipps: The first part of the trial will show how events unfolded from Brown’s perspective, with the jury hearing evidence from people who were in touch with Brown in the months before his death.
The jury will hear about the fight at the Voodoo Lounge, his lawsuit and his attempts to resolve the matter with Alexander, he said.
They will hear that Brown was involved with two women. At the time of his death, he was living with Nicole Hunt in Victoria. He was also involved with Nicole Herman, the mother of his son. They had an on-again, off-again relationship for several years. Herman lived in Campbell River and in the fall of 2015 and spring of 2016, Brown would travel there to visit his son, said Phipps.
The jury will also hear a recording of a phone call between Brown and the owner of the nightclub, said Phipps.
During the second part of the trial, the jury will hear about the Devil’s Army, its members, its culture and how events unfolded in the club leading to the death of Brown, Phipps said.
A former member of the Devil’s Army is expected to testify that Alexander asked for his help on the day Brown was killed. After Brown arrived at the clubhouse, Alexander asked the member to close the gate. When the member returned to the clubhouse, he found Brown’s body on the floor.
“I anticipate he will tell you he could still smell gunpowder in the air,” said Phipps.
The jury will also hear from a forensic pathologist, a firearms expert and police officers, he said.
Phipps told the jury to pay close attention to evidence relating to the culture of the Devil’s Army Motorcycle Club. The relationship between Alexander and another member of the Devil’s Army will be key in deciding what happened in the basement of the clubhouse, he said.
“Their expectations and understanding of how the club worked may assist you in assessing their relationship,” said Phipps
The jury will also have to listen carefully to testimony about the relationship between Alexander and Brown, and Alexander and the Hells Angels and why the killing might have occurred, he said.
