Juror dismissed in python deaths trial as Crown prepares to call final witness

By Canadian Press

CAMPBELLTON, N.B. – The criminal negligence trial in the deaths of two young New Brunswick brothers killed by an escaped python wrapped up for the weekend without hearing from any witnesses.

The trial in Campbellton, N.B., resumed after a lengthy delay Friday with the dismissal of a female juror. No reasons were given for the change, which leaves seven women and four men to hear the case.

The Crown was expected to call its final witness in the trial of Jean-Claude Savoie, but the proceedings were adjourned without hearing testimony and will resume Monday.

Four-year-old Noah and six-year-old Connor Barthe were killed by Savoie’s African rock python during a sleepover in his apartment on Aug. 5, 2013.

A pathologist who conducted the autopsies on the boys said Thursday that they died of asphyxiation after the snake coiled itself around them and bit them repeatedly.

It’s believed the python escaped its enclosure by slithering through a ventilation duct and then fell into the living room where the boys were sleeping.

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