PETIT-DE-GRAT, N.S. -- Sitting on the back porch of a small home with a panoramic view of the North Atlantic, fly swatter in hand, 89-year-old Gerald Boudreau admits his son Philip was no angel.
"Philip was a good boy, but he stole here and there," he says with a thick Acadian accent and a shrug. "But not big things. If he had money, he'd give it to you."
It's been more than two years since Boudreau's 43-year-old son disappeared at sea, the victim of a violent confrontation on Petit-de-Grat harbour, within sight of the family home at the southern tip of Cape Breton.
Earlier this week, local lobster boat captain Dwayne Samson -- the last of four people charged in Philip Boudreau's death -- was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
In an agreed statement of facts, Samson admitted he was steering the fishing boat Twin Maggies when it struck Philip Boudreau's speedboat in Mackerel Cove on June 1, 2013 -- the last day he was seen alive.
The statement says Samson and one of his deckhands, Joseph James Landry, believed they saw Philip Boudreau in a small boat tampering with the traps they were planning to haul up that morning.
Landry fired four shots at Boudreau, hitting him once in the leg. Samson then used the Twin Maggies to ram the boat three times, tossing him into the water. The statement says Landry hooked Boudreau with a gaff, and Samson steamed out to sea, where Boudreau's body was dumped in about 20 metres of water.
His body has yet to be found.
The case attracted national attention late last year when a Crown prosecutor said Landry's case amounted to "murder for lobster." Landry was convicted by a jury of manslaughter and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Samson did not testify at his sentencing hearing this week, but his wife Carla told court Boudreau had admitted to her that he was responsible for repeatedly cutting lobster traps.
That allegation was never proven in court.
Gerald Boudreau bristles when asked if his son damaged his neighbour's fishing gear.
"I never heard of that," he says, the sound of rolling surf welling up from the nearby beach where his son used to walk his dog. "The opposition says that ... He didn't deserve that at all."
However, Boudreau said lobster fisherman have been cutting each other's traps -- usually in disputes over fishing territory -- for as long as there's been a lobster fishery.
"It's over money, sure," says Boudreau, a fisherman for more than 50 years who also worked in construction.
In Atlantic Canada, the lobster fishery is by far the most lucrative seafood business going. About 10,000 licensed fishermen work in 45 lobster fishing areas or LFAs, hauling traps for an industry worth more than $1 billion annually. Nova Scotia accounted for about 60 per cent of the landed catch in 2013.
In LFA 29, which includes the waters around Petit-de-Grat Island and neighbouring Isle Madame, 64 licensed fisherman hauled in 650 tonnes of lobster last year during their May-June season at an average price of $4 per pound.
Still, the homes in Petit-de-Grat are mostly modest, one-storey dwellings with vinyl siding. There are some larger, newer homes scattered among them, but there are few obvious signs of great wealth.
In the village, dotted with Acadian flags, ATVs and shiny pickups, it's hard to find anyone who wants to talk about what happened to Philip Boudreau.
At the crab plant, a large man in tan coveralls and orange work gloves says he won't discuss what he knows of the case, but he offers a few thoughts anyway.
"A lot of people say he got what was coming to him," he says. "All the rumours in the town are true. He was a bad old bastard."
Down the street at the Corner Bridge Bakery, which is actually a convenience store, the woman behind the counter also declines to comment. She then goes on to explain that two of her co-workers are related to the families involved.
"It's a pretty touchy situation."
The story is the same at the home of Gerard Boudreau, Philip's brother. A man claiming to be another brother -- he won't say his name -- emerges to say lawyers have told the family to keep quiet because legal action could be taken after the criminal proceedings are done.
In nearby Arichat, the largest community on Isle Madame, municipal councillor Victor David says the 1,100 people in his district remain divided over the case.
"A lot of people are trying to move on," says David, who is also the warden of Richmond County. "It's been a devastating blow to the community ... There's still a lot of healing that has to be done."
David, owner of Jeantie's Mini Mart, says he rejects the Crown's "murder for lobster" moniker.
"I think it was something that happened on the spur of the moment," he says from behind a cluttered desk in a dimly lit office behind his store. "It's like two people going to a bar, they get into a fight and something drastic happens."
He says it's not surprising that few residents are willing to speak about what happened, adding that Samson is a relative and he grew up near the Landry home.
As for Boudreau, David says he's heard all the rumours and has concluded the man's reputation has been distorted.
"As far as I knew Philip, he had never done anything to me," he says. "There were rumours that lobster traps were cut this year, but I have no proof of that either."
