GUILTY Canada - Liana White, 29, Edmonton AB, 12 July 2005 - #4

[Jess]

http://www.owjn.org/info/murder.htm

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First degree murder is murder that is planned and deliberate (section 231(2)). Where a death occurs in the course of a sexual assault or criminal harassment, it is first degree murder whether or not the death was planned or deliberate (section 231 (5), (6)).
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Second degree murder is defined as "all murder that is not first degree murder" (section 231(2)).
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Manslaughter is defined as "culpable homicide that is not murder or infanticide" (section 234).

What does this mean?

Several things of particular relevance to our work:

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Murder is first degree only when it is both planned and deliberate. The planning and deliberation must come before the beginning of the homicide. For example, someone makes a conscious decision to kill someone else, sets a plan in place and carries it out.
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All other murders are second degree. The homicide must still be intentional, or it is not murder, but it becomes second degree murder when the intention to cause the personÕs death did not occur before the act began. In other words, there was no planning or deliberation. For example, someone assaults another person without having had any plan ahead of time to kill this person, but once the assault is commenced, intends to kill him.

Don't know if this helps or not.

 

[Bobbisangel]

Thanks so much for keeping us updated on the trial. I really appreciate it.

 

[Jess]

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2006/11/30/2561813.html




A defence lawyer for accused wife killer Michael White put three witnesses on the stand Thursday in an attempt to discredit testimony by the victim’s mother.
On Monday, Maureen Kelly, mother of Liana White, had described for the jury some unusual behavior by Michael White after his 29-year-old pregnant wife went missing.

However, under cross examination, Kelly had denied ever saying she wanted to kill herself to two volunteer members of the city police victims services unit.

Today, defence lawyer Laura Stevens called the two volunteers as witnesses.

Both Sandra Arbeau and Colette Radasic testified Kelly said several times that she just wanted to kill herself.



“I wrote that on three or four occasions Maureen Kelly said I just want to kill myself,” said Arbeau, after consulting her notes referring to July 12, 2005.

Radasic also said they called Kelly’s doctor and the distraught woman said the same thing to the doctor.

Both women described Kelly as being “agitated, very upset and grief-stricken.”

Stevens also recalled city police Sgt. Randy Topp, who was in charge of the forensic investigation at the White home and earlier testified for the Crown.

Kelly had testified she had gone to the White home to pick up some stuff for the White’s three-year-old daughter and noticed there were very few towels in the house.

However, Topp testified that when he did a walk-through of the White home on July 15, 2005, he found a series of towel sets in one linen closet, a single towel in another closet and three towels hanging in the two bathrooms.

Topp also testified it was his decision to not collect maggots found on White’s decomposing body so a forensic entomologist could try to determine how long the body had been in the ditch where it was discovered on July 17, 2005.

“We did not need to establish a time line,” said Topp, adding police did not need to know how long the body was in the ditch because they knew when she was last seen and that her body was found five days later.

On Monday, Kelly testified she found it odd that the White home was so “pristine” when she went over on July 12, 2005. She also noted that White slept through the night while she was up pacing and the next day he told his family he had hardly slept at all.

Jurors were told there will be no evidence tomorrow. The last defence witness, an expert from the U.S., will testify Monday by video link and the case should wrap up next week.

White has testified he did not kill his wife and bloody evidence seized from garbage bags he was spotted picking up in a field and putting out for pickup were from Liana having a nose bleed three weeks before going missing.

 

[Jess]

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=f95068fe-097b-4d03-a498-f12244e58b30&k=0

White trial goes to jury next week (updated 4 p.m.)
Defence to call last witness Monday
Chris Purdy, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Thursday, November 30, 2006
The murder trial of Michael White is expected to go to the jury before the end of next week.

As Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Mary Moreau released the jury today for a long-weekend break, she said the defence plans to call its last witness in the case Monday.

The witness, an expert from the United States, is to spend the weekend examining trial exhibits. He will testify over video-link because he has serious health problems and cannot travel, Moreau said
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She also thanked jury members for their patience. The trial, which began Nov. 2, was supposed to finish Friday.


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Font: ****White, a 29-year-old mechanic, is charged with the second-degree murder of his wife, Liana. He also faces a charge of offering an indignity to her dead body.

Liana, four months pregnant with the couple’s second child, was reported missing on July 12, 2005, after she failed to show up for her morning shift as a hospital clerk. Her Ford Explorer was also found abandoned in the parking lot of a recreation area near the couple’s Castle Downs home.

Two volunteers with the police victims’ services unit, Sandra Arbeau and Paulette Radisic, were dispatched to the home that day to help comfort Liana’s family.

The two women were called as witnesses on behalf of the defence Thursday to testify about the credibility of Liana’s mother, Maureen Kelly.
They said Kelly was upset and crying and talked several times about wanting to die.

“She wanted to kill herself, she was so distressed,” said Radisic.

She said she helped Kelly phone her doctor and took her to her house to get some of her medication, Tylenol 3 pills and antidepressants.
Kelly earlier testified for the Crown that her son-in-law insisted on taking a shower that day, even though he had been at his mechanic's job for only an hour when he got a call from police to come home. And his hands were clean.

Kelly testified that after the victims’ services workers left about 11 p.m., she tried to talk with White about what could have happened to Liana. She said White simply said he "didn't know.” He then went to the couch, turned on the TV and a short time later started snoring.

Kelly told the jury White slept through the night while she was awake all night with worry.

She also said the next morning she heard White tell his mother on the phone: “Oh, I didn't sleep at all last night.”

White, who took the witness stand earlier this week to proclaim his innocence, testified he didn’t know what to say to Kelly that night.

“She was upset, beside herself. I didn’t know what to say. I’m barely keeping myself from collapsing,” White said. “I didn’t know how to comfort her. I didn’t know the appropriate reaction.”

White said Kelly followed him to the couch, and he held her hand as he drifted off to sleep. He later woke up to find her sleeping.

On July 17, White and his volunteer search party found Liana’s naked body lying in a ditch, covered with branches. She had been stabbed twice in the back and died of a wound to her neck.

White was arrested the following day.

 

[Jay78]

Not Enough blood for a stabbing- Expert

.S.-based defence witness testifies via video-link fatal stabbing should have produced more blood
Chris Purdy, edmontonjournal.com

Published: Monday, December 04, 2006
If Liana White was fatally stabbed in the neck in her bedroom, forensic tests should have detected more blood, says an American crime scene expert.

“I’m left with a question: Where’s the blood?” Dr. Jon Nordby testified this morning via video-link from his office in Tacoma, Wash.

Nordby also told the jury that blood stains on the bedroom wall may not indicate a stabbing.

http://javascript<b></b>:void windo...r=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=no')
“The stains on the wall came from some sort of impact of a blood source,” he said. “Could be a fist, could be a foot, could be a knife — but I would put that low on my list.”

Nordby, an independent consultant in crime scene analysis and forensic science, said he has worked with the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He helped process human remains at the World Trade Centre towers in New York following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

He is the last defence witness to testify in the murder trial of Michael White.

White, a 29-year-old mechanic, has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder of his pregnant wife, Liana, as well as offering an indignity to her dead body.

White earlier testified in his own defence during the trial that Liana had a nosebleed in their bedroom a few weeks before she disappeared.

She was reported missing on July 12, 2005 after she failed to show up for her morning shift as a hospital clerk and her Ford Explorer was found abandoned in the parking lot of a recreation area near the couple’s Castle Downs home.

White pleaded through the media for public help to find Liana. Five days later, his volunteer search team found her naked body in a ditch north of the city.

The Crown alleges White stabbed Liana in the couple's bedroom, then cleaned up the blood. He dumped her body in a ditch and hid garbage bags of bloody clothes and cleaning supplies in a field. He then left her vehicle in the parking lot, staged a robbery and ran home.

Police used a chemical called luminol to locate traces of blood in the couple’s bedroom and in the back of Liana’s Explorer.

Nordby said the luminol is only a presumptive test.

The Crown is scheduled to cross-examine him this afternoon.

 

[Jess]

Local news:

Defense has closed its case.John Norby ( the expert from Washington, D. C.) had identified human remains at WTC after 9/11.
He was concerned about the lack of blood in the bedroom. Does not believe that a knife was used.He would have expected to see more blood. Questioned why the soil under her body was not examined for blood. ( eventually admits that this is hard to do and not necessarily a good indicator)
Jury is to start to deliberate on Wednesday.

 

[SewingDeb]

Interesting that the expert thinks they would find more blood if it was a stabbing. Thanks for the updates Jess.

 

[Jess]

http://edmsun.canoe.ca/News/Edmonton/2006/12/05/2637870.html

Tue, December 5, 2006
Case against White inconclusive: Defence
Evidence failed to show motive

By CP



EDMONTON — The lawyer for an Edmonton man charged with second-degree murder in the death of his pregnant wife says the Crown’s case is inconclusive.

In her final arguments to the jury on Tuesday, Laura Stevens said the evidence has failed to show that Michael White killed his wife, Liana.

She said the Crown did not establish precisely how, when or where Liana died after she was reported missing on July 12, 2005.

Stevens also said the Crown failed to establish a motive.

“If you took nothing else from (Michael White’s) evidence, I suggest you take the fact he loved his wife,” Stevens said. “He gained nothing from this. He lost everything.”

The Crown has argued that White killed his wife, who was four months pregnant, in their bedroom and then cleaned up the blood and dumped her body in ditch north of the city.

They said he then hid garbage bags full of bloody refuse in a field, stashed her vehicle in a parking lot while strewing her belongings around it in an effort to simulate a robbery.

White testified that the blood came a nosebleed his wife suffered some days before. The defence has also entered evidence from a forensics expert saying a stabbing would have left more blood.

Liana White, 29, was originally from Kelowna, B.C.



http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=d2f6b934-0a1e-41db-8dc8-91f291781629&k=0

Final arguments
White's lawyer says he had no motive to kill his wife (1:24 p.m.)
Chris Purdy, edmontonjournal.com
Published: Tuesday, December 05, 2006

If Michael White murdered his pregnant wife and staged her abduction, he would have done a better job covering his tracks, his defence lawyer told a jury this morning.

Laura Stevens said the parking lot where the woman's Ford Explorer was found abandoned was wide open, near many homes and the busy Castle Downs YMCA.

Garbage bags of bloody clothing and cleaning supplies were also found in an open field along a busy road.
Michael White returns home after being released from the Edmonton Remand Centre on bail last year.View Larger Image View Larger Image
Michael White returns home after being released from the Edmonton Remand Centre on bail last year.
Ian Jackson/Edmonton Journal
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"There have to be a thousand better places to get ride of evidence than an open field," Stevens said in her closing address. "It doesn't make any sense."

On July 14, 2005, two days after his wife, Liana, went missing, police placed White under surveillance and watched him drive to the field and pick up the garbage bags. He took them home and placed them outside for garbage pick-up the next morning.

White earlier testified during his trial that Liana had a nosebleed a few weeks before she disappeared. She cleaned up the blood in their bedroom, and they often used the field as a dumping site for junk.

Stevens said White is not a cunning man.

"If he is lying, it should have been better than that," she said.

She said White had no motive to kill Liana. Friends and family said they were a happy couple and excited about having their second child.

"He loved his wife," Stevens said. "He gained nothing from this. He has lost everything."

White, a 29-year-old mechanic, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a dead body.

The jury is to start deliberations tomorrow.

Crown prosecutor Troy Couillard told the jury in his closing address there is no reasonable doubt White killed Liana.

Traces of blood found throughout the house and in the back of Liana's SUV do not suggest she had a nosebleed, he said.

A security tape from a north side pub also shows a Ford Explorer like Liana's driving in the direction of the parking lot where hers was found. Minutes later, a man resembling White is see jogging by in the opposite direction, towards the couple's home.

White's volunteer search party also discovered Liana's naked body lying face-down in a ditch north of the city, five days after she went missing. She had been stabbed and died from a wound to her neck.

"It all points to Michael White," said Couillard. "Is this because it's a tragic series of coincidences?

"It points to him because he's guilty. He killed her, and he meant to do it."

 

[Jess]

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2006/12/06/2654439.html

Wed, December 6, 2006
Deliberations begin in White trial
White charged with killing pregnant wife

By CP



EDMONTON — A jury began considering Wednesday the guilt or innocence of Michael White, a man accused of killing his pregnant wife and dumping her naked body in a ditch.

In her charge to the seven-woman, five-man jury, Justice Mary Moreau of Court of Queen’s Bench reminded them that the Crown’s case is circumstantial and does not answer all questions.

“It would be an unusual case in which the jury could say, `We know everything there is to know about this case.’”

Liana White, 29, originally from Kelowna, B.C., vanished on July 12, 2005, and was found stabbed to death five days later. She was four months pregnant with the couple’s second child. Moreau emphasized that the jury must be convinced of her husband’s guilt in order to convict him.

“It is not enough for you to believe that Mr. White is probably or likely guilty of second-degree murder,” she said. “Proof of probable or likely guilt is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The judge also outlined the options for the jury: they could find White guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter or not guilty of either. On a second charge of offering an indignity to human remains, they could find him guilty or not guilty.

The Crown argued White killed Liana in their bedroom, cleaned up the blood and then abandoned her body on Edmonton’s northern outskirts.

He hid garbage bags full of bloody refuse in a field and stashed her vehicle in a parking lot while strewing her belongings around it in an effort to simulate a robbery. And he later retrieved the bags when he learned searchers were headed that way.

But during closing arguments Tuesday, White’s lawyer Laura Stevens said the Crown’s case failed to establish even basic facts such as how and when Liana White died.

She reminded the jury that investigators found nowhere near enough blood in the house for someone to have been stabbed to death.

She questioned why White would abandon his wife’s vehicle in the middle of a parking lot in sight of dozens of homes. She asked why someone trying to hide evidence would retrieve two garbage bags full of clothes and rags stained with his wife’s blood and bring them home from the field where he had originally stashed them.

But in his answering summary, Crown prosecutor Troy Coulliard repeated evidence that bloodstains on the bedroom wall and White’s clothes in the garbage bag were consistent with stabbing, not dripping from a nosebleed of Liana’s, as White testified in court.

As well, scrapes and bruises on Liana’s body suggested she had been dragged across a carpet and down a flight of stairs.

As well, Coulliard reminded the jury that White originally told police he didn’t recognize the contents of the garbage bags. In court, however, he acknowledged that the bags contained clothes belonging to both of them as well as a lamp from their bedside table that he said had broken during the confusion resulting from the nosebleed.

Court also heard that White had never mentioned the nosebleed to police during numerous lengthy interviews.

 

[Jess]

According to local news radio, the jury will deliberate into the evening. If they have not reached a verdict, they will retire to a hotel and continue deliberating in the morning.

( and I have to go out tonight !!!! so if anyone else is from the Edmonton area and a verdict is reached, please post !! )

 

[Jess]

http://edmsun.canoe.ca/News/Edmonton/2006/12/07/2669546-sun.html


he jury in the murder trial of accused wife killer Michael White was sequestered in an Edmonton hotel last night after failing to reach a verdict.

The seven women and five men packed it in for the day at 8 p.m. after deliberating from approximately 1:30 p.m. following legal instructions from the judge.

The jurors are expected to resume their deliberations this morning.

 

[Jess]

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2006/12/07/2670985.html



Thu, December 7, 2006

Michael White found guiltyDeath of pregnant wife
By Edmonton Sun



Michael White has been found guilty of second-degree murder and offering an indignity to human remains in the July 2005 slaying of his pregnant wife.
Jurors in the second-degree murder trial of White reached a verdict around 1:30 p.m. today.

White closed his eyes and bowed his head, as a member of the jury pronounced him guilty of killing 29-year-old Liana and dumping her body in a north Edmonton field.

White then looked briefly towards his mother and stepdad, while Lianna’s mother, Maureen Kelly, hugged Crown prosecutor Troy Couillard.

The jury was sequestered in an Edmonton hotel last night after failing to reach a verdict after about seven hours following legal instructions from the judge.

 

[Jess]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe.../michael_white_061207/20061207?hub=TopStories



28-year-old Michael White (file)
Michael and Liana White, with their two-year-old daughter.

Michael and Liana White, with their two-year-old daughter.
Michael White found guilty of second-degree murder

Updated Thu. Dec. 7 2006 4:59 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

An Edmonton jury has found Michael White guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his pregnant wife.

"When Michael White entered the courtroom he had that same look on his face that he had during media interviews -- sort of confused, bewildered and sad," reported CTV's Sarah Galashan on Thursday.

"He hung his head down when he heard the verdict, and the jury was stoic when delivering their decision."

Second-degree murder carries a minimum sentence of life in prison, with no chance of parole for at least 10 years. The jury has recommended White serve at least 15 years before he's eligible for parole.

But Maureen Kelly, mother of the victim, Liana White, said that would be too lenient for the killer of her daughter.

"Fifteen years seems quite light for a murder. My daughter lost her life and he still has a second chance," she told reporters outside the courthouse.


According to Kelly, the couple's young daughter Ashley may have witnessed brief glimpses of the murder.

"She was in the house the night it happened. I believe she saw pieces of it. I don't think she saw everything that happened," said Kelly.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2006/12/07/jury-white.html

A gasp was heard in the courtroom Thursday afternoon when the verdict was read. A dry-eyed White held his hands over his face and looked down.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2006/12/07/2670985.html



Thu, December 7, 2006
Michael White found guilty
Death of pregnant wife

By Edmonton Sun



Michael White has been found guilty of second-degree murder and offering an indignity to human remains in the July 2005 slaying of his pregnant wife.

Jurors in the second-degree murder trial of White reached a verdict around 1:30 p.m. today.

White closed his eyes and bowed his head, as a member of the jury pronounced him guilty of killing 29-year-old Liana and dumping her body in a north Edmonton field.

White then looked briefly towards his mother and stepdad, while Lianna’s mother, Maureen Kelly, hugged Crown prosecutor Troy Couillard.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/story.html?id=a62c75b2-5e3c-438a-9b0e-60737e5ad6fa&k=0

The jury delivered the guilty verdicts about 1:30 p.m. today, during its second day of deliberations. One juror cried; others clutched tissues.

White automatically receives a life sentence for the murder conviction. The jury recommended he serve 15 years before he is eligible for parole.


Michael White returns home from the Remand Centre after being released on bail last year.
Ian Jackson/Edmonton Journal



Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Mary Moreau will determine the parole period, as well as sentence him on the charge of causing an indignity, next week.

White closed his eyes then sat in the prisoner’s box with his head in his hands. When his mother, Carol Forbes, hugged him good-bye, he cried and repeated, “It’s OK. It’s OK.”

 

[Jess]

From local news

Neighbours are relieved with the verdict. " He got what he deserved"

Maureen Kelly ( Liana's mother)
" I hate him, hate him for what he had done" " If you had met Liana, you would have liked her."
Court documents reveal that Ashley told her grandmother that her father hit her mother and that there was blood on her neck. These statements were not allowed in court.
Michael's pastor is still standing by him; saying that witnesses were not allowed in court that would have disputed facts.

 

[SewingDeb]

I agree with Liana's mother. 15 years is way too light for murder.

The sentencing is next Wednesday with victim statements, iirc.

 

[sandraladeda]

Jess, thank you for all the updates. I am impressed by your ability to report the facts without any emotion or bias.

I have been following closely (from Calgary) and was afraid that the jury might actually buy some of White's explanation for the blood in the home, the bloody refuse dumped in the field, etc. Not that I expected them to believe it, but i thought they might have some doubt as to his guilt. I don't, I would have needed to hear an explanation for the discrepancies between his story - he claimed she left at 6 am to go to work, yet witneses saw the abandoned explorer hours earlier, he was captured on film by the security camera of a local pub, yet he vehemently denied it was him, and so on. That's what I needed to consider him not guilty.

Really, when you look at the totality of the evidence against him, it is apparent that he is really not that bright.

I feel terribly sad at this senseless death of a lovely young mother who had so much to live for.

 

[Jess]

Thank you Sandraladeda

I certainly had a HUGE bias and was very confident of the outcome. As more little dribs and drabs are coming out now, the jury must be feeling pleased that they made the right decision.
I hope the judge listens and sets parole at 15 years or MORE! I believe the maximum is 25-- and that is just to apply for a chance for parole.
I might have posted this article before . Bear with me !


http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNe...ana_white_daughter_061208/20061208?hub=Canada

dated Fri. Dec. 8 2006 7:57 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

The three-year-old daughter of Liana White may have witnessed her pregnant mother's murder, the victim's mother revealed Friday in Edmonton.

White's body was found in a ditch five days after she went missing in July 2005. The victim's mother, Maureen Kelly, said on Thursday that she thought the couple's daughter Ashley had witnessed her mother's murder.

On Friday, one day after an Edmonton jury found Michael White guilty of second degree murder in the death of his pregnant wife, Kelly said her grand-daughter has been asking questions and talking about gruesome details.

"I believe she saw pieces of it," Kelly told CTV News. "I don't think she saw everything that happened, but I think she saw 'clips.'"

Kelly said, "it's not something she'll sit down and talk about or answer questions about, it just comes out."

In statements that the jury was not allowed to hear, Kelly said that the pre-schooler, who was three at the time of the murder, has asked questions and made comments to her and family friends that suggest she saw something.

"Did you see the blood on mommy's neck?" Ashley asked, while making a motion from her own neck downward, said Kelly.

On another occasion, after watching a male family friend cutting buns, the little girl said she would "have to go and sleep in the leaves with my mommy."

And when driving past the spot where her mother's body was discovered, the girl told a family friend "I've been here -- my daddy took me here."

Kelly also said that her grand-daughter said she was her "lying in bed and she heard a noise and she got up and it was mommy on the floor."

When Kelly asked her what happened, the little girl replied: "Mommy said no more hitting, daddy, and daddy said yes, hitting."

Kelly's statement continues to say: "Ashley pounded her tummy with her fist, then went to the wall and banged her head against the wall a couple of times," and then told her "like that, grandma."

Second-degree murder carries a minimum sentence of life in prison, with no chance of parole for at least 10 years. The jury that convicted Michael White on Thursday recommended that he serve 15 years before being eligible for parole.

After the verdict was read, Kelly said that's not enough.

"Fifteen years seems quite light for a murder. My daughter lost her life and he still has a second chance," she said.

The jury also found White guilty of offering an indignity to human remains.

When Liana White went missing on July 12, 2005, her husband later made a tearful public appearance, vowing to find her.

He testified in court that he organized his own search party, including his mother, and found Liana's decomposed body in a ditch on July 17, north of Edmonton's outskirts.

Investigators concluded that White, 29, had been stabbed to death. She was four months pregnant at the time.

 

[Jess]

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjourn...8b422-c680-4b61-9215-c1332affa9ed&k=85804&p=2


Real-life whodunnit no less compelling than scripted TV dramas
Paula Simons, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Saturday, December 09, 2006

On our television screens each night, we watch cops, FBI agents and prosecutors matching wits with clever defendants, unravelling complex plots. Real life is more prosaic. But every now and then, Edmonton is gripped by a real whodunnit to fit the fiction formula.

On July 12, 2005, a pretty young mother named Liana White, pregnant with her second child, was reported missing. Her abandoned SUV was found not far from her home, her belongings littered beside it. Her husband appeared on television, making tearful appeals for her return in best CNN style. It was as if he were following the Scott Peterson playbook. In more ways than one.

Five days later, White led a search party to Liana's body, in a field just outside the city. Police promptly arrested him and charged him with second-degree murder. This Thursday, after 10 hours of deliberation, an Edmonton jury found him guilty. White now faces a mandatory life sentence. The jury went a step further, and recommended he be ineligible for parole for at least 15 years.



White's legal team mounted a diligent defence of their client. Lawyer Laura Stevens, who delivered closing arguments, did her best to create reasonable doubt, pointing out all the unanswered questions in the Crown's case, especially the lack of motive. But the weight of evidence against White, circumstantial though it was, was overwhelming.

Two things were particularly damning. First, there was the video surveillance tape from the neighbourhood pub, located between the White family home and the lot where the family's Ford Explorer was found abandoned.

White told police Liana had left the house in the SUV at her usual time, 6:15 a.m. But witnesses saw the vehicle abandoned as early at 5:45 am.

In fact, the videotape showed the Explorer zooming past the pub at 4:59 a.m.

The blurry image shows a man in a white T-shirt with White's stocky build driving the SUV. Eleven minutes later, the video shows what looks to be the same man running back towards White's house. Under police interrogation, White admitted the Explorer in the video was his, but insisted he was not the burly bald guy in the video.

He never explained how Liana could have driven away at 6:15 a.m. in the same vehicle. Or how or why a guy who looked uncannily like him would have been out driving around his neighbourhood in his Explorer at 5 a.m.

Then there were the two bags of clothing, paper towels, sponges and gloves -- all stained with Liana's blood -- that White retrieved from a field on the northwest edge of the city, two days after Liana's "disappearance." At the time, White was under police surveillance, though he didn't know it. Police saw him drive to the field, pick up those two bags, and put them out front of his house in Dunluce for garbage pick-up.

White testified at trial that he just happened to find the bags while he was out searching for Liana's body and brought them home, without looking in them, because he didn't like to see garbage lying around. The blood on the towels and gloves, he explained, came from a nosebleed Liana had three weeks earlier.

Real-life whodunnit no less compelling than scripted TV dramas
Paula Simons, The Edmonton Journal
Published: Saturday, December 09, 2006

White testified Liana must have bundled up the clothes, towels and a broken lamp from the couple's bedroom without his knowledge.

A guilty man, Stevens argued, would never have gone back to the secluded spot where he has dumped two garbage bags of bloody evidence and brought them back to his own house. No one would have been so stupid.

And a guilty man, Stevens said, would have thought up a better explanation than a bad nosebleed to account for the presence of Liana's blood in the garbage bags and on the floor and walls of the couple's bedroom. The story, she suggested, was too stupid to be a lie.


There was just one problem with Stevens's argument. To the jury, Michael White seemed just that stupid.

A sensible man in White's position might well have confessed to killing his wife, insisting it all happened in an unpremeditated moment of blind rage, and tried to get a manslaughter plea.

Yet right to the end, White denied any responsibility for what happened to Liana, and stuck to his cockamamie story. Like Dunluce's O.J. Simpson, White still insists he's innocent. And so do his ardent supporters, the folks at the Freedom Church of God.

"We remain confident that the truth will prevail in spite of this temporary injustice," said pastors Robert Scott and Gerald Budzinski, in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

Talk about blind faith.

Yet there is something perplexing about White's attitude, something that might have hoodwinked his backers. It's as if Whites believes his own story, as if he's in such denial about his crime, that he can't face reality.

At some level, perhaps, he feels he's telling the truth when he says he didn't kill Liana, or concocted his elaborate, half-baked coverup. That it was his shadow self, his inner evil twin, if you will, who did all these things.

But life isn't a TV show. Liana's murder was all too real. The only injustice here is that a woman died, that a little girl lost her mother in the most dreadful circumstances. Liana's friends and family have only this bitter consolation. The legal system got this one absolutely right.





- Liana White was a devoted wife and mother, dedicated to her job and respected by her co-workers. Her husband, Michael White, is a liar, a thief and now convicted of her murder. / See David Staples and Jamie Hall in the Journal's Sunday Reader

 

[L L & S]

"We remain confident that the truth will prevail in spite of this temporary injustice," said pastors Robert Scott and Gerald Budzinski, in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

I wonder what "truth " Pastors Robert and Gerald know that would "prevail in spite of this temporary injustice?" Seems to me if they knew the "truth" of the situation then they would have said something to LE before the trial even during the trial if they had to. If you knew the "truth" in this situation wouldn't you contact the defense team immediately if there was a chance an innocent man was going to prison for life? I think you would.

Jess, you know I'm a huge fan of yours. Thanks for keeping this trial updated for us.

o/t is there an injured UPS guy on your front steps ? How dare they deliver more work for you, right? Hope you had a good evening. See you in internetland.

 

[Jess]

not a peep has been heard from the pastors........... though that is not surprising, given the Canadian Justice system.Anything reported in the media is only made public AFTER it comes out in court. However I doubt any "info" was even given to the defense lawyers. They are from a good firm.
It's time the pastors just loved the sinner, hated the sin and moved on. Surely by now they 've heard the statements Ashley has made to her grandmother and that the girl is suffering from post traumatic symptoms and regularly seeing a therapist.

Justice was served.