Matthew MacInnes, one of two men charged with second-degree murder in the death of Pelham resident Earl Clapp, made another brief court appearance on Monday, Nov. 2.
Appearing via video in a jail-issued orange jumpsuit, the 39-year-old MacInnes spoke only to give his name and thank the justice of the peace after the short proceeding concluded.
MacInnes’ lawyer, Andrew Burton, again asked the court for a delay in the matter, citing a wait for evidence regarding Clapp’s Oct. 2 death.
“We’re in basically a holding pattern, waiting for some disclosure to arrive,” Burton said.
MacInnes’ co-accused, 49-year-old Jason Lusted, is scheduled to re-appear in court on Nov. 27. Burton said there shouldn’t be a need for MacInnes to wait that long, and asked for something sooner.
“It’s a little bit further down the road that I would like to adjourn the matter, despite the fact that Mr. Lusted is returning that date,” Burton said. “So I’m going to ask for Nov. 13 in the video adjournment court and there will be an update on the status of disclosure at that point.”
The justice of the peace agreed.
Lusted’s involvement in a separate, still-unresolved 14-year-old murder case took another turn last month following his arrest in the death of Clapp. A Hamilton judge was scheduled to deliver an Oct. 30 verdict in the retrial of Jeremy Hall for the 2006 death of Billy Mason. Lusted pleaded guilty to accessory to murder after the fact in the case in 2013, but Hall’s conviction was overturned on appeal. Now, in the wake of Lusted’s most recent arrest, Hall’s lawyers want to reopen the trial because of an incident that may be “relevant to a material issue in the case.”
Lusted testified against Hall — with whom he said he operated an auto theft ring — in the first trial, claiming he was merely a bystander when Hall abducted and shot Mason to death in February 2006, then drank beer with Hall as Mason’s corpse was burned.
After being detained in Clapp’s death Oct. 9, Lusted allegedly attacked a guard by biting them at the Niagara Detention Centre, sources told the Voice. The Ministry of Solicitor General confirmed an incident at the jail at the time, but didn’t name Lusted.
Meanwhile, MacInnes’ self-identified girlfriend, Tamara Aubertin, was also due in court Nov. 3 on unrelated weapons charges from 2019.
