Victim's DNA found on weapon, clothing of accused, says expert
Second week of trial in Fort Good Hope murder trial ends with testimony from forensic specialist
Shane Magee and Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Monday, February 8, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
DNA of a woman killed in Fort Good Hope in 2014 was found on a blood-stained stick as well as the belt buckle and the left shoe of the teen accused of the crime, a DNA expert testified in NWT Supreme Court last week.
Charlotte Lafferty, a 23-year-old mother of three, was killed March 21, 2014. Last week was the second of what's expected to be three weeks of testimony in the trial of a teen accused of killing her that morning outside a seniors centre.
The teen was 17 at the time but is now 19-years old. He cannot be identified because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Janice Lyons, an RCMP forensics specialist, testified in Yellowknife on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5 before the jury of seven women and five men.
As she spoke, the accused, wearing a loose white dress shirt and black dress pants with short cropped hair, appeared to take notes on a yellow legal pad while sitting beside his lawyer, Charles Davison.
Davison questioned whether the DNA from Lafferty could have ended up on the shoes because it was transferred from an object - such as a bottle - that both the accused and Lafferty had passed back and forth.
It "would be very unlikely," Lyons said.
"It's less likely but you can't rule it out," Davison asked her during cross examination.
"I can't rule it out," she said.
Crown prosecutor Annie Piche said Lyons was the last Crown witness. The case continues Feb. 8.
The trial has already heard from the first officer to arrive at the bloody scene, recordings of the calls to RCMP dispatchers and the mother of Lafferty since the trial began with jury selection Jan. 25.
RCMP Const. Michael Pudsey said he arrived outside the elders complex around 7:30 a.m. March 21, and saw a man leaving the area at a walking pace with an apparently bloodstained two or three-foot-long "wooden board" slung over his right shoulder. "Almost like you're carrying a baseball bat," he said.
He said he couldn't initially make out facial features but then the man looked at him with wide eyes, dropped the stick and began to run.
Pudsey said he ran after the man, who was described as a "young male in their teens," wearing a brown parka, black snow pants with no facial hair, dark skin and wearing a black hood or toque.
A 30-second chase ended when Pudsey got within reach of the man but stumbled.
"I got close enough to put my fingertips on the collar of his jacket but I fell," he said. Throughout the chase, Pudsey said he had yelled at the man commanding him to stop but he didn't hear a response.
The man appeared to be searching his pockets to make sure he hadn't dropped anything as he ran away. Piche asked if Pudsey recognized the man.
"Yes, I did," said Pudsey. "I did get a good look at his face when he look over at me while I was in my truck."
Pudsey said he met the accused on his first day on the job in August, 2012, when he flew to Fort Good Hope from Yellowknife. The teen was on the plane as well, and another officer was investigating him in the belief he was carrying alcohol into the prohibited community. Pudsey said he was observing the other officers' actions as part of getting acquainted to his new job and was face-to-face with the accused.
"You never forget your first occurrence," he said.
Pudsey said he later assisted an officer on another file which required them to interview the accused as a witness. He said he couldn't remember the exact date of the interview, which took place through the open window of a police cruiser. He got another chance to take note of the man's appearance when he saw the teen in media coverage in 2013.
"There was no question, that's who I'd seen running from me," said Pudsey.
Pudsey said he arrived at the scene on the day of Lafferty's death at around 7:30 a.m. He took some time to investigate another group of buildings which also house seniors. He said the buildings are often confused with the elder's complex. After losing the man in the chase, Pudsey said he quickly returned to the back of the elder's complex and found a horrific scene.
"There was stuff scattered in the snow, someone who was naked," he said, adding he rushed in to try and treat Lafferty, who was on her back in the snow. "I was shocked at what I saw. Her face was extremely badly beaten ... There were deep, deep cuts," he said. "Once I saw the shape they were in, I grabbed the right arm to try to get a response."
Pudsey said he heard a moan. Realizing the victim was still alive, Pudsey said he began a desperate attempt to drag her to his truck. A man came with a blanket and Pudsey asked him if he could help him carry the person.
"He said he wasn't strong enough," said Pudsey. "I pulled her the entire way, and just out of the driveway, there was another clear moan."
Pudsey said another officer arrived and they checked for a pulse which wasn't there.
At 7:44 a.m., health clinic staff arrived and confirmed the girl was dead, the officer said. He said the next task was to preserve evidence. Pudsey took part in the search of the home of the accused that was carried out at 8 p.m. the evening Lafferty was found.
When he saw the man in the home, before reading him his rights and placing him in handcuffs, Pudsey said he "knew that was the person" he'd seen fleeing the scene.
