Man charged with murder in Edmundston ordered to undergo psychiatric assessment

A 48-year-old man charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a 58-year-old man in Edmundston early Tuesday morning has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment.

Jean-Martin Couture, of no fixed address in Edmundston, made a brief appearance in provincial court via videoconference Wednesday afternoon. The judge ordered the assessment to determine if he's fit to stand trial.

Couture was charged with second-degree murder Tuesday, just hours after police officers discovered the body of Jacques Lévesque, 58, in an apartment on Rosario Street.

The victim and the accused were known to each other, Edmundston police Chief Steve Robinson told reporters Wednesday afternoon. He did not elaborate.

Police responded to a call about "an individual found unconscious in his apartment" shortly after midnight Monday, Robinson said.

Someone who went to visit Lévesque got no answer at the door, looked in the window, saw him lying on the floor and called 911, the chief said.

Officers found an injured man on the floor and "soon realized that that the victim was dead and was victim of a [homicide]," Robinson said.

Neighbour heard yelling

Neighbour Rolly Medina said he was home at the time.

"I was watching TV at 11 o'clock. I heard yelling, but they used to yell here, so I don't mind, you know?

"So I continue watching … and then around quarter to 12, or something like that, the police arrived. And that's all I know," he said in an interview Wednesday.

Investigators were called to the scene, along with a member of the forensic identification section and New Brunswick RCMP'S police dog services.

Within a few hours, a 48-year-old man from the Edmundston area, who is "known to the authorities," was arrested and questioned, police said in a news release Wednesday.

"The suspect came himself to the police station to be arrested," Robinson later told reporters.

The man appeared before a provincial court judge by teleconference Tuesday, when he was formally charged with second-degree murder and scheduled to return to court on Wednesday.

Couture, who remains in custody, is scheduled to return to court on July 18 at 9:30 a.m. He was ordered to have no contact with a number of people.

'He doesn't bother me'

Medina, who was awake until 4 a.m. Tuesday, said police remained at the scene until around noon, when they removed the victim's body.

He knew the victim, he said, but not by name. The man used to help him carry heavy items and borrowed money from him before, he said.

"He doesn't bother me. I don't know if he makes problem. I don't know. He doesn't bother me."

Medina said he had seen the accused before but doesn't know him.

Isolated incident

This is the second homicide in the Edmundston area in about a month, but the general public is not in danger, according to the chief.

Two men are facing second-degree murder charges after a 29-year-old man with "significant injuries" was found outside a business in Saint-Joseph-de-Madawaska, about 12 kilometres north of Edmundston, shortly before midnight May 30 and later died at the scene.

The two cases are unrelated, Robinson said in French, and the latest case is an isolated incident between two individuals.

There's no reason to fear this is an escalation of violence, he said.