New Brunswick python trial hears emotional testimony: more witnesses today

CAMPBELLTON, N.B. – The trial of a man charged in the deaths of two young New Brunswick boys, who were suffocated by a python, heard emotional testimony from their mother on Wednesday.

Mandy Trecartin said she had no reservations about leaving her four-year-old son Noah Barthe and his six-year-old brother Connor for a sleepover at the apartment of Jean-Claude Savoie, who she described as a close friend.

She said shortly before 7 a.m. the next morning, Savoie was banging on her door and saying that his African rock python had escaped and killed the boys.

It’s believed the snake travelled through a ventilation duct and fell into the living room where the boys were sleeping.

RCMP Const. Eric Maillet was one of the first officers on the scene and said the snake was quite aggressive and appeared to be trying to escape again.

Ocean Eagles, a former volunteer at Savoie’s pet store, testified that she had placed a cover over the opening of the ventilation duct weeks earlier when Savoie told her the snake had managed to get halfway out of the duct before.

Eagles said she could never imagine that such a large snake could fit through the narrow duct.

More witnesses will be called today.