Altamond Jr. Little trial: Reasonable doubt?
Marjorie Dammier was in a relationship with Altamond Jr. Little for over 13 years. They had two children together. Their relationship ended in March 2013. Afterwards, Dammier began dating a man named Maxime Berthiaume Calado. In July 2013, she and Little began seeing each other again despite the fact that she was still dating Calado.
On Oct 8 2013, Little, Calado and Dammier were all in Dammier’s apartment at 311 rue des Oblats in LaSalle for one hour and fourteen minutes.
During that time Calado and Dammier were killed.
Dammier died quickly: shot in the head at close range with a sawed-off shotgun.
Calado died slowly: stabbed 21 times according to the pathologist who examined his body. 10 of those were on his hands. He died five days later in hospital.
“I stabbed him. He pushed me and then I thought he still had the gun so I kept stabbing him.”
Altamond Jr. Little’s deep voice was steady as he testified at his own murder trial. He denied killing Dammier but admitted that he did indeed kill Calado. He said it was self-defense.
His trial wrapped up yesterday. A jury will go into seclusion this weekend to decide whether to convict him of two counts of murder.
Their decision will be based on the following information:
What the cameras saw
Dammier’s apartment has a security camera inside the entrance to the apartment complex. This is what it saw on Oct 8, 2013:
2:38 p.m. — Dammier leaves to spend the day with Calado. He picks her up.
5:35 p.m. — Little arrives at the apartment. He is carrying a black backpack. A neighbour buzzes him in.
8:55 p.m. — Dammier arrives back with Calado. She walks upstairs to her unit while he brings in two wooden chairs. He brings one chair upstairs, then returns into the view of the camera to get the other one.
…
10:09 p.m. — Little is seen on another camera going out the back door of the apartment.
What the neighbours heard
Several of Dammier’s neighbours testified in court. This is what they heard coming from her apartment on the night of Oct 8.
“Woman sobbing”
Calado’s voice: “She’s so small. Pick on someone your own size.”
Little’s voice: “She’s my wife, I can do what I want with her!”
Then the gun went off.
They heard sounds of a struggle, then silence.
Little’s story
Little maintains his innocence. He said that he arrived at the apartment and napped until Dammier got home.
He said that when she walked in, she told him to hide in the master bedroom, not wanting Calado to see him.
He walked out of the bedroom when Calado came in and things got heated.
Little said that he reached out a hand to comfort Dammier at one point and Calado yelled at him. He said he yelled back “She’s my wife, I can do what I want with her!”
He said he noticed that Calado was mad and, sensing a fight, he bent down to put his shoes on. While doing so, he looked up to see Calado pointing the shotgun at him.
He pushed the gun out of his face. It went off, hitting Dammier in the head. He then pulled out a knife and stabbed Calado. He kept stabbing him until he noticed Calado didn’t have the shotgun anymore.
Little is the only witness to the events that happened inside Dammier’s apartment on Oct 8.
When police arrived, they had to knock the door to the apartment down.
Dammier’s body was found sprawled at the top of the stairs. She was in her underwear.
Calado was found bleeding in the living room on his left side with two unfired shotgun cartridges next to his hand.
Where did the shotgun come from?
A sawed off shotgun with one cartridge in the chamber was found in the kitchen of Dammier’s apartment. Two different DNA profiles were found on the shotgun. One tested positive as Calado’s. The other was inconclusive.
A coworker of Little testified that he had seen a shotgun fitting the description of the one used to kill Dammier in the basement of Little’s apartment building.
What now?
A jury will decide over the next few days, or potentially weeks, whether or not to convict Little on two counts of murder.
His trial has been ongoing since March. The jurors have sat through dozens of hours of testimony. One juror even appeared to be sleeping during closing arguments.
If convicted, Little could face two life sentences.
On May 16 2017 Altamond Jr. Little was convicted of second degree murder for the death of Berthiaume Calado and manslaughter for the death of Marjorie Dammier. He will be sentenced later this month.
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