SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - "It is Emrah Bulatci's fault that (RCMP Const.) Christopher Worden is dead," defence lawyer Laura Stevens told the Supreme Court jury Wednesday after Bulatci's surprise attempt to plead guilty to manslaughter.

Crown lawyers John Cliffe and John McFarlane immediately rejected the plea, and the trial proceeded on the first degree murder charge.

Now that Bulatci has admitted responsibility for Worden's death, the trial and verdict now hinge on whether or not he intended to kill the RCMP officer when he fired his weapon, said Justice John Vertes, who is presiding over the case.

Worden was shot four times and killed on duty while responding to a call in Hay River on Oct. 6, 2007.

During her opening arguments, Stevens said Bulatci "is not innocent." She added that Bulatci, who was a drug dealer in Hay River at the time, is not of good character.

But, she said, it is not for the seven-man, five-woman jury to judge his character, but rather to judge whether he intended to cause Worden's death.

"At the end of the trial you will be asked to find him (Bulatci) not guilty of first-degree murder, but guilty of manslaughter, (which) is a very serious offence but not the one for which he is on trial," said Stevens.

She added there is "a great deal in this case that will not be in dispute." One of those things, she said, "is that Constable Worden was a good man.

"His (Worden's) death is absolutely wrong, it is tragic. It is acknowledged whose fault that is," she said. "There's nothing good about this case. It is sad and it is hard."

She added while Bulatci is not obligated to, he will take the stand toward the end of the scheduled seven-week trial, telling the jury, "It's a hard thing to look into someone else's heart and mind."

Worden's family made a brief statement Wednesday to the dozen media representatives gathered outside the Yellowknife courtroom during an afternoon break.

Jodie Worden, Christopher's wife, said, "We are here as a family to support each other and to provide a voice for Chris."

She then told the media the family will not be making further comments.

The Worden family sat alongside many others in the packed courtroom, listening as the Crown called its first two witnesses, an RCMP officer and a Hay River man Bulatci befriended.

The man testified both Wednesday and Thursday. He said he came to know Bulatci - he knew him as "Justin" - and two other men, "Jesse" and "Derek," in the days leading up to Worden's death, letting them come and go in his house. He also received crack cocaine from them on several occasions and at one point saw the three "cook" crack in his home.

On the morning of Worden's death, Jesse and Derek came into the man's house while he was on the floor asleep with the T.V. on, he testified.

They were "both quite upset, quite rattled about something," he said. The three men conversed - the witness did not testify as to what - leading the man to tell the other two to get their stuff and leave.

"If they were running from the RCMP or the police, I didn't need the heat," he said.

He was just about asleep again, when Bulatci arrived at his house, also upset. The man told him the other two had left and asked him to do the same.

Bulatci said, "I hope they didn't take off and leave me behind," the man testified.

The Crown also called several witnesses who testified to seeing Bulatci with a chrome handgun in the days leading up to Oct. 6.

Several witnesses also commented on Bulatci's changed appearance from the short, stocky man they had encountered two years ago, saying he had lost a lot of weight.

The prosecution plans to call witnesses in chronological order, starting with events before Worden's death, through to Oct. 6 and on to people Bulatci met during RCMP's six-day manhunt and his subsequent arrest.