Tina Fontaine, 15, was found dead in the Red River on Aug. 17, 2014. (Winnipeg Police Service)
Sobbing broke out in the packed courtroom at the murder trial of Raymond Cormier as Crown prosecutor Jim Ross delivered his closing arguments, laying out the case against the man charged with killing Tina Fontaine in 2014.
Extra chairs were brought in to accommodate the number of people in the audience.
As Ross read statements by Cormier about his sexual attraction to the 15-year-old girl in police interviews and undercover recordings, several people let out sobs and cries of "Oh my God."
Tina Fontaine's birth mother, Valentina Duck, stuck up her middle finger at Cormier and shouted: "F--king sick bastard!"
This prompted Court of Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal to briefly clear the jury out of the courtroom until calm was restored.
When the jury was brought back in, Duck had left and Joyal told the jury to disregard anything said or done by members of the audience.
Cormier, 56, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of the teenager from Sagkeeng First Nation.
Her 72-pound body was found near the Alexander Docks on the Red River on Aug. 17, 2014, wrapped inside a duvet cover and weighted down with rocks.
Cormier's trial is being heard by a jury of seven women and four men. A 12th juror was dismissed partway through the trial due to a family emergency.
Ross began his closing remarks by saying the central question of the case had to do with who caused Tina's death.
"This is a true whodunnit," Ross said. "The answer, ladies and gentlemen, was was given to you by Mr. Cormier. His own words identified himself as the killer of Tina Fontaine. For what man admits to murder but that he did murder?"
Ross said there are two likely causes of Tina's death: smothering or drowning. He told the jury members to disregard Cormier's repeated denials that he killed Tina, and focus on statements Cormier made about Tina's killing where Ross argues Cormier let his guard down.
"You ever been haunted by something? What happened there really f--king it's not right. F--k. It's right on the shore. So what do I do? Threw her in," Cormier says to a woman in one of the recorded conversations.
"I did Tina, f--kin' supposed to be legal and only 15. (Inaudible). No going back, too. The cops said if there would have been DNA and then probably they would've had enough evidence to charge, you know that, for the murder of Tina Fontaine."
Ross also told the jury to consider Cormier's stated desire not to be known as a pedophile, and his admitted attraction Tina. Ross mentioned that Cormier told multiple people that he had sex with Tina before finding out her age.
Ross also pointed to circumstantial evidence, including Cormier's attempt to run from police when they arrested him for Tina's murder on Oct. 1, 2014; his attempts to conceal the fact he was in possession of a stolen truck around the time of her disappearance, which the Crown argues provided the means for Cormier to dispose of her body; and witnesses who said they saw Cormier with the duvet cover found with Tina's body.
Argument over bicycle
On Aug. 8, 2014 — the day she left the Best Western Charterhouse Hotel and never returned — Tina told a CFS worker that her friend "Sebastian" was going to get her a bike. Cormier told police that is the name he identified himself by with Tina when they met.
Two days earlier, the two of them got into an argument at a house on 22 Carmen Ave. when Cormier sold Tina's bike for drugs, and Tina threatened to call police about the stolen truck.
Ross argued Tina sought Cormier out, expecting to get a new bike, and Cormier would have been anxious to find Tina to ensure she didn't tell police about the stolen truck.
When Tina's body was pulled from the river, it had been there for at least a week. She was wearing the same clothes she wore when she was taken to hospital earlier on Aug. 8 after being found lying on the ground.
Last day
Ernest DeWolfe, a friend of Cormier at the time, told the jury that on Aug. 15 he asked Cormier about Tina's threat to call police. Cormier said he had talked to Tina the day before and "taken care of it," DeWolfe testified.
That date is impossible, because she was almost certainly dead, Ross said. But it constitutes an admission that Cormier saw Tina after their fight on Aug. 6, which is the last day he told police that he saw her.
Cormier's defence will tell the jury to "overthink" Cormier's words, Ross said.
"Believe him for what he says and convict him for what he did," Ross told the jury.
The defence will make its closing arguments Tuesday afternoon.
from CBC | Top Stories News http://ift.tt/2olH0Oy
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