Skip to content

Jury hears what Ronald Freeman said to police

Freeman is distraught in a video showed to the court on Monday
150428courthouseMP465

Ronald Freeman was upset, irate and yelling as he was transported to hospital following an altercation that resulted in the death of Patrice Gregoire, jurors heard Monday at his second-degree murder trial.

City police Const. Mike Rose was with the injured man in the ambulance that took him to the Sault Area Hospital on July 17, 2014.

The 13-year officer testified that Freeman kept "yelling and talking over me" when he told him he was being arrested for attempted murder.

Freeman said he didn't "give a f..k" and he was going to jail for a long time, Rose told prosecutor Dana Peterson.

He said "my old lady's a f...ing whore," and that he wanted Gregoire to die, that he "shanked" the man 15 times and he's going to hell, the constable testified as the trial entered its second week.

Rose said he told Freeman not to say anything and that he should call a lawyer.

"He kept saying he didn't need a f...ing lawyer" and that "he was going to jail for a long time."

Freeman, 48, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Gregoire, who was known to many as Pat the Plumber, and to a single count of assault involving Tanya Pearce.

Rose said when he and his partner arrived at the scene of the fight in Jamestown at about 9:47 p.m., two other officers were already there.

Gregoire was lying on the pavement, and he rolled the man onto his side.

He was very pale, his speech really slow and his shirt and pants were saturated with blood, Rose said.

"I was saying stay with me, stay with me" that an ambulance was coming, but he was fading, and with the amount of blood "I thought he was going to die," Rose said.

While his focus was on Gregoire, he said he remembered Freeman yelling, and looking over and seeing a lot of blood on the man's face, and a swollen eye.

During cross-examination by defence lawyer Ken Walker, he agreed Freeman had a large goose egg on the side of his face and was in bad shape.

Walker referred him to his testimony at the preliminary hearing in 2015, where he said Freeman had a major injury to his head.

"I meant the injury to his eye," Rose said.

Another city police officer, Const. Mike Maniacco spent the night outside Freeman's hospital room.

The 17-year officer testified that he was there when Det. Tom Armstrong told Freeman at 2:20 a.m. that Gregoire had passed away and he was being charged with second-degree murder.

At 2:30 a.m., a doctor advised Freeman that he had a broken pinky finger that needed to be set.

Freeman responded that he had busted it many times before and not to do anything.

He said "I'm just going to go and hit the biggest guy I find in there and it will be all over then," Maniacco told Peterson.

When asked what he understood that to mean, Maniacco said he thought Freeman "believed he was going to go to jail. He would hit the biggest guy in there so he would get retribution."

On Monday, the jury also viewed a video of an interview Armstrong had with Freeman at the Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre on July 24.

Before the jurors saw the video and heard from the sergeant, Superior Court Justice Charles Valin told them it suggests Freeman suffers from a mental illness.

But the Crown isn't suggesting Freeman is unfit to stand trial and the defence isn't advancing that he suffered an illness at the time that rendered him incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of his actions and knowing it was wrong, he explained.

Jurors were provided with transcripts of the interview, but Valin urged them to listen carefully as they watched the video, because it is the only evidence and the transcript is just an aid.

"If it differs, go by what you hear and see on the video."

The video showed a crying, emotional and distraught Freeman, yelling, gesturing and sometimes moving around the room.

Although he was loud, it was often difficult to make out what he was saying as he spoke with Armstrong, asking about the whereabouts of his keys and wallet, and indicating he was worried about his dog.

At one point, he said "God has already condemned me to hell" and "I'm going to be here until I die."

Later, Freeman said Gregoire smashed him in the face. "I weighed 140 pounds. He weighed 200 pounds, 190 pounds."

He told Armstrong that Gregoire "said 'You're dead' and I said 'Bring it.'"

When the detective asked if he was scared he replied 'No.'

What was your intention that night Armstrong then asked him.

"Kill or be killed," was Freeman's answer.

Freeman said he took a knife from his apartment when he went out because "someone was coming to hurt me. I was going to hurt him right back."

Gregoire kicked him, threw him to the ground and "I landed on my back" and had the "knife in my left hand," he said.

Armstrong asked what he was thinking with Gregoire on top of him.

"I'm going to die," he responded.

Gregoire was punching him continuously and "I was saying slap me harder, kill me," Freeman told the officer, indicating he didn't want to kill Gregoire, but stabbed him "probably 15 times."

"Are you sorry for what happened that night?" Armstrong asked.

"I should be, but no," he said.


What's next?


If you would like to apply to become a Verified reader Verified Commenter, please fill out this form.



About the Author: Linda Richardson

Linda Richardson is a freelance journalist who has been covering Sault Ste. Marie's courts and other local news for more than 45 years.
Read more