The Canadian man charged with murdering two police officers and a couple has made his first appearance in court Monday.
Matthew Vincent Raymond, 48, was pictured entering the courtroom to face four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of officers Sara Burns, 43, and Robb Costello, 45, as well as Donnie Robichaud, 42, and Bobbie-Lee Wright, 32.
Earlier this month the two officers responded to a call to find Ribichaud and Wright dead before being shot themselves.
Monday’s hearing was the public’s first glimpse of Raymond, as he kept a low profile with very few photos of him circulating beside old fuzzy yearbook shots from his teenage years.
Matthew Vincent Raymond appeared in court Monday in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
He allegedly gunned down officers Sara Burns, 43, and Robb Costello, 45, earlier this month
About 70 members of the victims’ families showed up to attend the hearing and watched as Raymond exited the police van in an orange jumpsuit.
Raymond’s lawyer Nathan Gorham said he expects his client will plead not guilty at his next hearing in late September and is looks forward to ‘vigorously’ defending himself.
Gorham told reporters that the alleged shooter is in ‘shock and poor physical condition.’
On August 10, the four were gunned down outside of an apartment complex in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.
Robichaud and Wright has been in a relationship before their death, according to Facebook.
Robichaud’s cousin, Sean Callahan, said they had just got together at the beginning of August.
Fredericton’s deputy police chief Martin Gaudet said the two officers were responding to calls of shots fired at the complex around 7am.
A motive is unknown and it is reported that Raymond had been living in the apartment building for about four months.
The officers were then shot and killed.
Raymond is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the shooting death earlier this month at an apartment complex , pictured
Costello was a 20-year police veteran and father-of-four, while Burns was a married mother-of-three with the force for two years.
Raymond was arrested at the scene and taken to hospital with serious injuries after being shot in the stomach by police, according court documents.
Officers Burns and Costello showed up to find the two civilians dead.
The shooting came as Canada wrestles with a string of violent acts, including an incident in Toronto last month where a man with a handgun opened fire in a crowded part of the city, killing two people and wounding 13 before he died in the confrontation.
In April, a man who linked himself to a misogynistic online community used a van to run down pedestrians in a busy part of Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 14.
Authorities are also still pursuing leads in an ongoing investigation of a serial killer who has been charged with killing eight men in the city in recent years.
The two officers were responding to calls of reported gunshots at the apartment complex when they were shot themselves on August 10