Not sure what to make of the "no further record," but one article suggests that he was back in Quebec "two or three" years before the murder trying to collect wages owed to him by Moquin, which would fit with being discharged (or deserting) in 1862 or 1863. I still have to go through the trial transcript, but this is in French, which I can only read on a basic level. The rumors that he was "bounty jumping" may allude to his having been a substitute; I fail to see what he could have gained by making this statement, esp. since he claims having been an officer.