‘I should get a purple heart’: Interview with accused in murder of man found in barrel played in London court

An interview with the accused in the murder of a man found in barrel was played in London court, CTV London's Nick Paparella has the details.

A London jury continued to follow statements given by the accused in the days following her arrest on Tuesday.

Following the review of an audio interview shared with the jury on Monday, on Tuesday the court watched a video interview of the accused, Ashley Bourget with London Police Inspector Angela Johnson recorded in the moments after her arrest on June 16, 2021.

Her arrest took place eleven months after the badly beaten body of Grant Norton was found stuffed in a barrel near her apartment.

Bourget said that the 59-year-old Norton was a well known drug dealer with connections to organized crime.

031925_Ashley Bourget, Norton murder trial, accused Ashley Morgan Bourget of London, Ont. (Source: Ash Bourget / Facebook)

In her interview with police, Bourget stated that he was coming to her apartment at 20 Adelaide Street South to buys drugs from her and was carrying a large quantity of cash. She said once word got out, others showed up and robbed him, tied him up and beat him to death.

“I thought I was being used... they set me up to put it on me,” said Bourget in the interview. “I’m telling you the truth, I never hit him, I didn’t do it, I just got him over to the house.”

The 40-year-old Bourget told Inspector Johnson that there was a Hamilton area million dollar mob contract out on Norton, “So I was thinking not to kill him but I was thinking to give him to the people that put the hit on him, that’s what the plan was... so I could make a half million dollars or something for getting them to take him to the mob.”

Grant Edward Norton Grant Norton is seen in this image released by the London Police Service.

Bourget was tearful throughout the interview, covered by a blanket and sitting in a wheelchair.

She told police that she hated Norton because he raped her three times, “He’s a brutal rape hound, a dirty pig. Why are you investigating this? Let it go. Who cares what happened to him.”

Bourget continued, “So I get charged with murder and this guy gets away with (indiscernible) all these women. That’s not fair… I should get a purple heart instead of going to jail.”

032525_LPS Norton homicide investigation File - A London police cruiser is seen outside of Bourget's apartment, July 2020 (CTV News London)

After being reported missing by his family, Norton’s body would be found in a plastic barrel down a ravine by the Thames River near Jacqueline and Ada Streets in east London in July, 2020.

Bourget has pled not guilty in this case.

The trial is now into its fifth week.