By Carlisle Jno Baptiste-Roseau, Dominica
A major twist has taken place in the Jonathan Lehrer double murder trial after the matter came up for the second time on November 19, 2024, for a bail hearing before High Court Judge Colin Williams.
Justice Williams had in April denied him bail after he had applied for bail to travel to the United States on “medical grounds.”
The American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, is one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica.
Lehrer was charged with murder after the bodies of Daniel Langlois and Dominique Marchand were found in a burnt-out car last December.
Langlois was a well-known Quebec businessman and the founder of Softimage, a digital effects program used on many blockbuster films including Jurassic Park, The Matrix, and Harry Potter. He owned an eco-resort in Dominica and lived there with his wife.
Lawyers for the double murder accused again petitioned the court for a bail application on behalf of Lehrer who they claim had “serious health issues” and needed to travel to the United States for urgent medical attention.
But the State opposed the bail application stating among other things that he “was a flight risk and that it was not in the interest of the public to grant him bail.”
They also told the court that his next court date was December 10, 2024, where “the paper committal trial bundle was to be delivered.”
The prosecution and also the defense requested time from the court to bring in a King’s Counsel (KC) Thomas Astaphan whom the State had contracted to prosecute the matter but both requests were denied by the court. The prosecution was then given until 4 pm on Thursday, November 21, 2024, to file its submission in reply to those filed by the defense after which the Judge is expected to give his ruling on the bail application.