Laura Babcock Murder Trial 10.25.17 - Day 3

[Velma]

Twitter
Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Desi Libertore (spelling - I need to confirm) met Mark Smich when he was 14.

Twitter
Trevor Dunn
@trevorjdunn
Day 3 of Laura Babcock murder trial: Desi Liberatore, a friend of Mark Smich, is now testifying.

Twitter
Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
...and throwing a phone in the water. They were in Smich's garage at the time.

Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
During opening statements, the Crown recited similar lyrics and showed the jury a video of Smich rapping.

Trevor Dunn
@trevorjdunn
Liberatore is important because so far the trial has mostly just heard about Laura Babcock. This witness knows the accused.

 

[SnooperDuper]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Desi has a problem w opioids, he says. Since Gr 10. Oxy, heroin, fentanyl. Smoked pot before that. Went to rehab 3x, incl last Aug. #Babcock

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
He says he is not using opioids now. In addictions counselling, PAARC.. Wait. "I still use opioids sometimes. Not as bad as before."

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Liberatore points at #Smich in court. Knows him. He would loiter to find older ppl to buy cigs in Gr 9. One day #Smich approached. #Babcock

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Liberatore was 14. Smich in his early 20s, he thinks. They met close to his school, Loyola #Oakville

[READER]
What does that mean in this context? "admiral law does not kick in when you refuse to name yourself in court"?

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
That's what the anarchist group apparently advised ppl to do, said "admiral law" would take effect if you don't give name

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Mark #Smich would come buy the kids smokes whenever they called. Liberatore would go to Smich house for marijuana. Wait in drive or on porch

 

[Velma]

Twitter
Trevor Dunn
@trevorjdunn
Witness testifies that Mark Smich showed him the lyrics to rap song he wrote about "torching" a woman's body and throwing her phone in water

Twitter
Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Smich's girlfriend Marlena was hanging out with them at the time. Smich told her to leave the garage before the rap.

Twitter
Trevor Dunn
@trevorjdunn
Liberatore knew Smich from hanging out in Oakville.

Trevor Dunn
@trevorjdunn
Liberatore also told the court he has struggled with opioid addiction and is being treated.

 

[Velma]

Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Libertore says Smich told him in greater detail what "they did" -- torching a body and throwing a phone in the lake.

Trevor Dunn
@trevorjdunn
Witness testifies that Mark Smich admitted to "torching" a woman and disposing her body.

Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Libertore says he doesn't know who it was, just that it was a girl.

Twitter
Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Libertore reviews his police statement. Tells the court his phrase at the time was "they burned a girl."

Trevor Dunn
@trevorjdunn
Witness says Smich said "they" burned a girl.

This is making my stomach feel queasy

 

[SnooperDuper]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Smich is writing furiously as Liberatore describes hearing a rap from Smich, something about torching a woman's body, throwing phone in lake

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
"When I think about it, it was something about a charred body," Liberatore wasn't sure if the word was "torched" #Smich #Millard #Babcock

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Other ppl were in the garage hearing the song, but Mark #Smich told gf Marlena Meneses to leave before he played it. #Babcock

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Liberatore knew that #Smich was playing his song from the notes app "because I'm tech-savvy and I know what that is." Laughter in court

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews 4m4 minutes ago
More
Liberatore says when Marlena left, #Smich told friends more. He torched a body. Said he burned a girl. #Babcock

Adrian Humphreys‏ @AD_Humphreys
Desi says he was in Smich's garage when he performed a rap he wrote about torching a girl's body and throwing her cell phone in the lake.

 

[SnooperDuper]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Looking at notes, Liberatore remembers #Smich saying "they" burned a girl. "They burned a body, torched it or whatever."

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
"Then he said something about he cell phone being in the lake." The rap was shocking, Liberatore says.

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Did he say he killed somebody? Crown Jill Cameron asks. Liberatore doesn't think so. He left w 2 friends, they talked about it.

Adrian Humphreys‏ @AD_Humphreys
Replying to @AD_Humphreys
He then asked his girlfriend to leave then told his male friends the rap was real, really burned a girl, threw it and her phone in lake.

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
"Did that really happen?" Friends asked each other. They thought #Smich was "boosting."

 

[Velma]

Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Libertore says the rap was kind of shocking, and that Smich said "yeah they did it."

Twitter
Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Libertore ""We were shocked, did that really happen? I remember saying - it's made up, it's not real."

Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Libertore says he never talked to Mark about the rap or what he said again.

 

[SnooperDuper]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
"We were passing around a blunt, which is a marijuana cigarette," Liberatore says. Also drinking peach schnapps. But "I was of sound mind."

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
When he was arrested for shoplifting sunglasses Liberatore told police he had info on a homicide "bc I was in opioid withdrawal"

Adrian Humphreys‏ @AD_Humphreys
Witness said he told police about the shocking statements of Smich after he was arrested for shoplifting, hoping to be let go. He was.

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Liberatore thought telling police about #Smich gruesome rap song would help him w shoplifting charge. Tells court it, in fact, did.

 

[SnooperDuper]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Liberatore knew Mark #Smich had a sister because her car was sometimes in the garage (with pink rims) but they never met.

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Liberatore thinks the #Smich rap song incident happened in late fall 2012. "It was cold." Checks his statement to confirm year. #Babcock

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
2012 was the year Liberatore was supposed to graduate high school, he realizes. #Smich #Millard

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Liberatore has also met Dellen #Millard. "He was with Mark a lot." Does not consider Millard a friend.

 

[SnooperDuper]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Liberatore says #Smich had hand gestures like a breast stroke when performing the part about "if you go swimming you can find her phone"

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Legal arguments. Jury out. Stand by. #Babcock

 

[Velma]

Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Libertore says he told police "I have information on a homicide" and at the time he was in opioid withdrawal.

Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Libertore says group in garage was smoking marijuana when Smich told them "they burned a body," but Libertore says he was "of sound mind."

Trevor Dunn
@trevorjdunn
Witness told police about Smich admitting to burning body after he was arrested for shoplifting, hoping to be let go. He was.

Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Jury has been excused. There are some legal arguments happening. Stand by.

 

[gremlingrrl]

Ms.elle posted yesterday (thread is closed for posting):

I'm probably giving DM way, WAY too much credit but I suspect he asked that so that he could ask later on if LB was SL's first sexual partner in order to demonstrate that SL was a biased witness and doesn't like DM because he thought DM was sleeping with LB rather than because he killed her.

My impression (and strictly MOO), based on behaviour throughout the pretrial motions, and also observed Mon/Tues of this week, is that DM is just taking his last opportunities to stick it one more time to those who loved and cared for Laura, and who are beyond devastated by this whole horrific tragedy.

I'm sure there's some intent to create for the jury an impression of witness bias. (DM did ask CB if he was attempting to paint their home life in a more favourable light than reality, and he did ask SL if his testimony was an attempt to protect LB's reputation.) However, IMO, the primary driver here is his desire to make a game of their emotions, and to rub as much more salt in the wound as he can.

I will make a generic comment: I speculate that the question about first sexual experience was quite mild vs. what DM might have liked to ask. IMO. And if I were to continue to speculate, I'd have to conclude the only purpose of such probing would be an attempt to (d)emasculate (for lack of a better term) SL.

Much of the questioning, suggestions, and comments DM engaged in seemed intended to imply to SL that DM and LB had been involved intimately before SL was in the picture, which was not SL's understanding. While there could be some element of drawing discredit to LB's honesty, my impression was that the primary purpose of the whole charade was to undermine the SL/LB relationship, with the intention of hurting SL by making him second-guess much of the relationship, and how genuine the feelings involved were. Again, that's my impression, only, so strictly MOO.

 

[Velma]

The witness - we believe his name is spelled Desi Liberatore and will confirm - knew Smich from Oakville, where he's also from.

He has some very important evidence: Liberatore told the jury court that Smich showed him the rap song police found on Laura Babcock's iPad (later renamed "Mark's iPad").

Here are the lyrics, presented by the Crown in its opening:

"The ***** started off all skin and bone, now the ***** lay on some ashy stone, last time I saw her's outside the home and if you go swimming you can find her phone."

Liberatore told the court that after seeing the rap, he and other men who witnessed it were "shocked" and asked Smich to explain it.

Before Smich said any more, he asked a woman who was there to leave the garage they were hanging out in.

At that point, Liberatore testified that Smich told them about it "in greater detail."

Liberatore: "He said they torched a body a threw it in the lake, and something about a cellphone being in the lake."
by Trevor Dunn 11:08 AM

 

[loveisthemovement]

This is the first time we have heard about Laura's body being thrown in the lake? Ashes I am assuming?

 

[SnooperDuper]

[READER]
@HefCHCHNews Who is questioning this guy?

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Crown Jill Cameron with examination in chief.

Liam Casey‏ @liamdevlincasey
Witness at Babcock trial: remembers Mark Smich rapping about torching a woman’s body and throwing a cell phone in the lake.

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Jury back. Crown is about to play the Smich rap for Libertaore. We saw this first during opening statement. This time it continues...

 

[Velma]

Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
The Crown is now playing a video of Mark Smich rapping the song, which we saw during opening statements.

Trevor Dunn
@trevorjdunn
The Crown plays a video of Smich performing rap song. Liberatore says he heard "something like that."

Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
Crown asks if Libertore has seen the video. He hasn't. But he says the song is "something like that."

Shannon Martin
@ShannonMartinTV
We are now breaking for a 20 minute morning recess.

 

[SnooperDuper]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Giggle in video Liberatore IDs as Marlena, #Smich girlfriend. The camera also zooms in on what appears to be a marijuana cigarette.

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Liberatore seemed a bit shaken by that video. I believe his voice cracked a bit. No reaction from #Smich and #Millard, so far as I could see

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
Court break.

 

[Tealgrove]

Ms.elle posted yesterday (thread is closed for posting):



My impression (and strictly MOO), based on behaviour throughout the pretrial motions, and also observed Mon/Tues of this week, is that DM is just taking his last opportunities to stick it one more time to those who loved and cared for Laura, and who are beyond devastated by this whole horrific tragedy.

I'm sure there's some intent to create for the jury an impression of witness bias. (DM did ask CB if he was attempting to paint their home life in a more favourable light than reality, and he did ask SL if his testimony was an attempt to protect LB's reputation.) However, IMO, the primary driver here is his desire to make a game of their emotions, and to rub as much more salt in the wound as he can.

I will make a generic comment: I speculate that the question about first sexual experience was quite mild vs. what DM might have liked to ask. IMO. And if I were to continue to speculate, I'd have to conclude the only purpose of such probing would be an attempt to (d)emasculate (for lack of a better term) SL.

Much of the questioning, suggestions, and comments DM engaged in seemed intended to imply to SL that DM and LB had been involved intimately before SL was in the picture, which was not SL's understanding. While there could be some element of drawing discredit to LB's honesty, my impression was that the primary purpose of the whole charade was to undermine the SL/LB relationship, with the intention of hurting SL by making him second-guess much of the relationship, and how genuine the feelings involved were. Again, that's my impression, only, so strictly MOO.

Thank you for this.

How does such an evil despicable being come to be? I actually don't want an answer.

Sharlene Bosma was never as right as she was when she called him Evil. That's exactly what he is.

MOO

 

[Georgeo]

Well, this witness certainly sheds light on what happened with the ashes and cell phone from LB.... pretty stupid to be rapping and bragging to friends.... wow...

 

[Tealgrove]

I guess they did the same with Tim. :anguish: