Python trial hears closing arguments; case set to go to the jury Wednesday
CAMPBELLTON, N.B. — After more than a week of testimony, the trial of a man whose African rock python escaped and killed two young New Brunswick boys came down to one question: Did his decision not to cap a ventilation pipe constitute a crime?
Both the Crown and defence presented their closing arguments Tuesday in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Campbellton.
The defence said Jean-Claude Savoie didn’t cover a ventilation pipe above his python’s enclosure not because he was careless or reckless, but because he simply didn’t believe the large snake could possibly fit through it.
Savoie pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death after the python escaped an enclosure in his Campbellton apartment and killed four-year-old Noah Barthe and his six-year-old brother Connor in August 2013.