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By Regan Tate, Eli J. Ridder

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RCMP officers describe finding Cypress county councillor’s body in Deborah Belyea’s murder trial

Jan 11, 2024 | 5:00 PM

Warning: There are graphic details included in this story.

An RCMP officer first to find the body of late Cypress county councillor Alfred Belyea went into detail from the witness stand of a Medicine Hat courtroom on how and where the deceased was found after the councillor went missing in October 2021.

Sgt. Alan Rivard was giving testimony in the second-degree murder trial of Deborah Belyea on Thursday and described using a map drawn by Belyea to find her husband’s body at a rural Saskatchewan property.

Rivard and another officer went to the Belyea residence on Oct. 15, 2021, and collected a note that Belyea’s daughter Trina Belyea found.

Included within the note was a map that showed apparent directions to somewhere south of Piapot, Sask. — which Staff Sgt. Michael Courtey, who was with Rivard, found a match to a map on his phone.

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After a quick stop at the RCMP Redcliff detachment, officers immediately traveled to what they believed was a location marked on the map.

It led to what appeared to be a largely abandoned property with five buildings on it.

They discovered a gray municipal bin on its side in the long grass beside one of the buildings.

Inside was a large object covered in several blankets and tied with a white rope that appeared to have blood on it. The officers believed this was the body of Alf Belyea.

Photos from the crime scene were shown in court.

Const. Anthony Colestone testified that Alfred Belyea’s body was missing his arms and there was a tear in the bag where the shoulders should have been.

The garbage container was smeared with red blood. Tupperware container lids with red stains purported to be blood were also found inside the bin.

Deborah Belyea spent most of the time during the description of the crime scene looking down and tearing up. She used a cloth to repeatedly dry tears. Belyea’s daughter Jodi Wilson kept her head down to avoid looking at the images that were being shown in court.

Inside a building near where Belyea’s body was found, four area rugs were found all with red stains.

A duct tape roll was also found nearby. The RCMP major crimes unit was then called in.

MISSING GARBAGE BIN

Court also heard that RCMP officers searching the Belyea residence noted there was no garbage bin on site, just a recycling bin.

They tried fitting a recycling bin the same size as the bin Alfred Belyea’s body was found inside in a Volkswagen Golf found at the Belyea residence.

The bin fit relatively easily but with some rubbing against the ceiling of the car.

A forensic toxicology drug specialist also testified on Thursday.

Jacqueline Nack was sent blood and eye fluid samples from the victim’s body and found several pain relievers, suppressants and disinfectants.