First-degree murder trial under way for East Mountain man

 Leslie Douglas Greenwood was one of two gunmen involved in a double homicide in September 2000, Crown attorney Peter Craig said in opening statements of a jury trial on Monday. Greenwood, 41, of East Mountain is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the Sept. 9, 2000 shooting deaths of Barry Kirk Mersereau, 48, and his common-law wife, Nancy Paula Christensen, 47. The pair were found shot to death in the living room of their Centre Burlington home and the Crown has alleged the murders are connected to Hells Angels activities. Greenwood was surrounded by sheriff's deputies and led into the courtroom in handcuffs prior to the start of the seven-woman, five-man jury trial. Everyone else who entered the courtroom was also subjected to heavy security by passing through a metal detector and having their personal belongings searched. As part of his opening comments, Craig told the judge and jurors that evidence to be presented over the next two weeks will show the two murders were conducted under orders by former Hells Angel Jeffrey Lynds, a North River native who died earlier this year in an apparent suicide in his Montreal jail cell. Describing the case as an "execution," Craig said Mersereau and Christensen died in cold blood at the hands of Greenwood and Michael Lawrence. Lawrence, who is expected to be a key Crown witness, pled guilty to his part in the killings last January. He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole after also pleading guilty to killing Portapique resident Charles Maddison, an innocent motorist who had picked him up while hitchhiking. Lawrence, who reportedly owed Lynds money, is expected to testify that he and Greenwood both shot the couple, one with a .357 Magnum the other with a 32-calibre hand gun. The couple's 18-month old baby was found unharmed in the house by a neighbour following the shootings. A preliminary inquiry is set to begin July 16 for Lynds' nephew Curtis Blair Lynds, 36, who is also charged with first-degree murder in the case. He is currently serving federal time on drug trafficking convictions.