Murder in Rivière-Verte: the accused Benjamin Côté pleads not guilty

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The alleged murderer Benjamin Côté pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to the charge of premeditated murder of Rino St-Pierre, resident of Rivière-Verte, New Brunswick.

The 45-year-old accused appeared in court via videoconference. His interim lawyer pleaded not guilty before the Court of King's Bench.

This brief appearance also made it possible to set the date of the pre-trial conference on December 10.

The court will then be able to set the dates for the voir dire. This procedure will take around ten days. Voir dire allows the judge to determine one or more questions by questioning witnesses.

This is a sort of preparatory trial before the real trial. Until then, Benjamin Côté remains detained in Saint-Hilaire.

Let us remember that the GRC discovered the body of a man victim of a homicide on the ground of a property on rue Industrielle, in Rivière-Verte, on August 15, 2021.

Two suspects, Benjamin Côté and Angie Leclerc, were arrested in the Rivière-du-Loup region, Quebec, in August 2023.

Based on a report by Allyson Dubé