High Court Judge Denies Bail to US National Jonathan Lehrer For Murder of Famed Canadian Animator
ROSEAU, Dominica – High Court judge, Colin Williams, Thursday denied bail to United States national, Jonathan Lehrer, one of two American nationals charged with the murders of famed Canadian animator Daniel Langlois, 66, and his longtime partner Dominique Marchand, 58.
Daniel Langlois, 66, and Dominique Marchand, 58, are shown in this undated handout image provided by the Daniel Langlois Foundation. (Photo courtesy of THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-Daniel Langlois Foundation)Lehrer had sought bail in order to travel overseas for medical treatment.
However, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Sherma Dalrymple, speaking to reporters following the “in camera” hearing, said Justice Williams had denied the request for the accused to travel to Texas in the United States to obtain medical care.
She said that the application had been heavily opposed by the DPP and the state’s team that included Trinidad-based attorney Keith Scotland, the special prosecutor.
“Today Justice Colin Williams ruled after hearing arguments on Monday, April 8, that there was no just cause to grant the applicant bail and also the requirement of the Bail Act had not been met for the granting of bail”.
The DPP said that she is of the view that Justice Williams’ ruling “focused heavily on the public interest, which was considered …under section 4 of the Bail Act, (and) so the requirements which were not met”.
Asked whether the accused could re-apply for bail at a later stage, the DPP said “in matters of that nature frommy experience when bail is not granted at the first instance, where there is a change of circumstance and an application is brought before the court another application can be made”.
Dalrymple said that the prosecution intends to have the trial start at the September Assizes, “because we go back to court to present paper committal bundles in July,” adding that the evidence against the accused men has to be made a available to the defence by June 18.
In December last year, murder charges were filed against Lehrer, 57, and 62-year-old Robert Snyder Jr., over the deaths of animation pioneer and Quebec philanthropist Daniel Langlois and his partner.
The prosecution alleges that between November 29 and December 2, 2023, the two Americans murdered Langlois and his partner Marchand. Their bodies were found incinerated in a car near Gallion, in the south of the island where they owned a hotel. Langlois and Marchand had been reported missing for several days.
The Americans were not required to enter a plea in the magistrate’s court, since murder is an indictable offence and can only be tried before a judge and jury at the High Court.
In December last year, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said that a special prosecutor would be appointed to deal with the murders, saying then, “I have every confidence in the justice system to administer this matter fairly and above board.”
Lehrer and Langlois had fought bitterly over the use of a road that sliced through the former’s property on the Bois Cotlette Estate, one of the oldest plantations in Dominica. But the High Court had ruled that the road was public.
Langlois had made a fortune developing cutting-edge 3D animation software for the company he founded, Softimage, that was used in Hollywood blockbusters such as “Jurassic Park,” “Star Wars,” and “The Matrix.”
In 1994, he sold his company to Microsoft, and three years later was awarded a scientific and technical Oscar, according to his foundation’s website.
