RCMP say they’ve made an arrest after a “devastating” attack on a New Brunswick musician this past weekend.

John McLaren, a solo musician from Shediac, N.B., had been performing at Happy Craft Brewing at 800 Main St. in Moncton on Saturday before the attack.

Codiac Regional RCMP said their officers responded to a report of an assault in the area at about 11:50 p.m. They said they responded to the report near 889 Main St., but that based on details from their investigation, the assault is likely to have occurred near 806 Main St.

They found a 37-year-old man injured and unconscious. He was rushed to hospital with what were believed to be serious injuries. As of Monday, McLaren was in the intensive care unit.

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The suspect had fled the area before police arrived.

On Tuesday, police located and arrested a man at a home on Weldon Street.

Luke Powers appeared in Moncton provincial court Wednesday and was charged with aggravated assault. He was remanded into custody pending a court appearance Friday.

“John’s a great guy, straight moral compass, he would never want anything negative upon anyone,” said Ryan Mazerolle, a guitarist from the band Before the Dinosaurs.

“The fact that it happened to him is very devastating to the overall community.”

In the days after the attack, some artists say they’re hesitant to play in the Moncton area.

Michel LeBlanc told Global News that McLaren was “such a good person” and that there was “no way” he did anything to deserve being attacked.

“Disappointed that these things keep happening in Moncton, and especially to someone like him,” LeBlanc said.

Due to concerns over violence, some musicians have said they take extra steps when loading and unloading equipment at venues to ensure safety.

“Even before our first gig, I was telling them that we need to post up a sentry system where someone is on stage and someone is at the trunk and there is two guys going between with the gear,” Mazerolle said.

“So there are eyes on everyone’s shoulders at all times.”

LeBlanc said he believes more needs to be done.

“It’s getting worse; it doesn’t feel like it’s getting any better and we are on our own out here,” LeBlanc said.

The RCMP said its investigation is ongoing.

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Janson Baker has been found guilty on both counts of first-degree murder in the 2019 killing of a senior couple in New Brunswick.

The jury, which began deliberations on Feb. 26, delivered its verdict in a Moncton courtroom on Monday evening at around 7:45 p.m.

Baker, 29, has been on trial for two counts of first-degree murder in the 2019 shooting deaths of Bernard Saulnier, 78, and Rose-Marie Saulnier, 74.

The husband and wife were found dead in their home in Dieppe, N.B., on Sept. 7, that year.

RCMP announced the charges against Baker in 2023, on the fourth anniversary of the couple’s deaths. At the time the charges were laid, Baker was an inmate at the Atlantic Institution, a maximum-security corrections facility in Renous, N.B.

Baker’s trial began Jan. 3 and included more than 30 witnesses.

During closing arguments, Defence lawyer Brian Munro said the Crown did not prove Baker committed the murders or that his client was even in the couple’s house at the time, saying “there’s no physical evidence in this case of any kind against Janson Baker.”

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N.B. man with lengthy criminal history charged with killing elderly couple

Munro argued that much of the Crown’s case is speculative and also cautioned the jury against trusting the evidence of two key witnesses, including Zach Trevors, who had previously testified that he saw Baker in the Saulniers’ house with his arms raised and that he heard a scream.

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Munro said in his closing arguments that Trevors’ testimony had inconsistencies, saying “he is incentivized, he’s motivated not to tell the truth.”

However, Crown prosecutor Brad Burgess challenged that idea, arguing that a guilty finding is “the only rational conclusion.”

It has been the Crown’s assertion that the Saulniers’ deaths were collateral damage in an attempted murder of their son as part of retribution for allegedly betraying a drug trafficking ring.

Their son, Sylvio, died in 2023 but police have said there was no criminality in his death.

In his closing argument, Burgess said it was Baker’s testimony that was unreliable and that any inconsistencies between his witnesses’ testimonies only went to prove that they had not corroborated.

Burgess also said the charges of first-degree murder were warranted because he alleges the Saulniers were killed while being forcibly confined.

He concluded by saying, “It’s now Janson Baker who’s trapped. He’s trapped by the evidence in this case and the inescapable conclusion that it leads to.”

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.