Opening Statements 03/05/2012 in MRT's Trial

[Hello_Kitty]

If we didnt have diffrent opinions, these conversations would get boring

Of course... Maybe it's just me wanting them to have a bit of humanity, because only monsters do things like that.

 

[margaret_diane]

Still catching up but didn't We read media reports that JG and Daryn saw a puffy oat which they thought was the white one in question? Didn't we read it had been dyed pink and it was streaky? I wonder of it was the same one and what happened to it afterwards? Where was TLM when JG was said to have seen the coat at her home? And while I'm at it I noticed that JG seems to have been conspicuously absent from the proceedings today - at least I saw no mention of him in any media reports. Did you? Maybe he will also be called as a witness? Or maybe he and TM have been ordered to have no contact and not be within a certain distance of one another as a result of the criminal charges pending against them?

 

[daisy.faithfull]

If we didnt have diffrent opinions, these conversations would get boring

Some questions I would need to know to think otherwise i guess so ill throw some thoughts out and questions maybe someone can help

Have we heard how many pills they obtained?

How many pills would it take and how long to incompasitate Tori.

Why get pills AFTER the abduction, involving other people and potentionally alerting someone that there is a unknown child in the car

We'd have to know the dosage per pill too or the total dose given to Tori.

She was small so it wouldn't take much. That stuff is very strong.

 

[kmclaren]

From what I was able to listen to, I made a quick list of witnesses, please add any I've missed:

- teacher (s)
- parents who picked up their children around the same time
- police expert(s)
- coroner
- Tara (sounds like no other family members)
- TLM
- BA (the drug dealer)
- MR's friends/acquaintances (re: post April changes he made to his car and his "special" interest in Tori's case)
- experts re: cell phone records, video tapes, etc.

It sounds like they will be presenting the case sort of in order of actual events so the 1st witnesses would be the teachers, parents, then Tara, etc. And I got out of it that TLM would be testifying sometime after Tara and the video evidence but before BA and the coroner.

 

[matou]

-The back seat was never recovered.
-Both Rafferty and McClintic had a Missing Person poster, in their homes, depicting Tori, when police searched them.
-Police never found the rest of Tori's clothes, her backpack or McClintic's jacket.
-Tori's rib fractures and lacerated liver happened before she suffered the fatal blow to the head.
-Tori was killed by repeated blows to the head and found naked from the waste down. She also suffered trauma to her torso and ribs.
-Rafferty also checked his voicemail at 7:47 the night Tori went missing. Call bounced off a cell phone tower near where her body was located
-Rafferty's used his blackberry frequently on April 8th, 2009. Police able to pinpoint where he was whenever he did.
-Crown says McClintic and Rafferty were caught on tape several times that day. Both in and outside of Woodstock.
-Rafferty's Honda Civic was also caught on tape several times.
-Crown says the accused visited Barbara Armstrong, a friend of Rafferty's in Guelph to buy drugs. Tori was in the car, but was not seen.
https://twitter.com/#!/AM980_Court

 

[myzzy]

-The back seat was never recovered.

-Tori's rib fractures and lacerated liver happened before she suffered the fatal blow to the head.https://twitter.com/#!/AM980_Court

What could cause a lacerated liver and rib fractures??? A savage beating? or a object inflicting the wounds?

 

[margaret_diane]

True, but BA can testify that she interacted with MR (&TLM) that day which would re-inforce/support what TLM will tell about that day. As they said in one of the tweets, TLM's credibility may be an issue but told jurors to weigh what she says against supporting testimony (or something like that) - so even so BA may not have seen Tori, she can back up what TLM will say...

If BA was dealing Percocets and maybe even other drugs (who knows!?) then how credible a witness will SHE be? If she was dealing she may also have been using that day. Who knows if she has been or will be honest? Maybe she is minimizing what she knows, saw or heard in the days leading up to, day of and perhaps even following the abduction.

 

[SilkySifaka]

What could cause a lacerated liver and rib fractures??? A savage beating? or a object inflicting the wounds?

The hammer would do it as would fists. Don't forget the liver is smushy and tears easily

 

[matou]

Maybe this friend of Rafferty's is a friend who he was bothering for drugs and not necessarily a dealer. JMO

 

[matou]

The hammer would do it as would fists. Don't forget the liver is smushy and tears easily

There were rocks all over the area. I think those could have been used as well as the hammer. JMO

 

[myzzy]

The hammer would do it as would fists. Don't forget the liver is smushy and tears easily

Thank you.

 

[matou]

I had a feeling that Rafferty's phone would ping off of that cell tower located just a mile away. He used his phone several times that day and checked his voicemail. https://twitter.com/#!/AM980_Court

map: http://maps.google.ca/maps/ms?msid=203410295147159171605.00046ba276b2b212badab&msa=0

 

[daisy.faithfull]

Maybe this friend of Rafferty's is a friend who he was bothering for drugs and not necessarily a dealer. JMO

Good point! Tina (one of the girls he met on POF 18 mo. before the abduction) said that "asked persistently for OxyC's and for a period that is all he asked for".

I have that in quotes because that is exactly how I wrote it in my notes, I don't know if I took that verbatim from an article or which article I got that from.

 

[kaas]

The stopped for drugs, an atm, went shopping, used cell phone, while abducting and murdering this little girl. My head is spinning at their cold and in my opinion nonchalant attitude and my heart is breaking once again for Tori and her family.

 

[daisy.faithfull]

Good point! Tina (one of the girls he met on POF 18 mo. before the abduction) said that "asked persistently for OxyC's and for a period that is all he asked for".

I have that in quotes because that is exactly how I wrote it in my notes, I don't know if I took that verbatim from an article or which article I got that from.

I :beats: Google

Its from this article:
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/638574--tori-murder-accused-intelligent-and-weird

Tina, a Woodstock resident who asked that her last name not be used, met Rafferty on the dating site plentyoffish.com a year and a half ago. She says Rafferty quickly wanted to escalate their friendship to a romantic level. When she balked, he became distant – except when he needed money or drugs.

"I mentioned ... one day that my Dad has some medical problems and uses OxyContin," recalled Tina, 26. Then "he started phoning me up asking for Oxy. At one point he said he needed it for his mom and then for himself. For a while that's all he would call me about."

 

[nonfictionrocks]

Still catching up but didn't We read media reports that JG and Daryn saw a puffy oat which they thought was the white one in question? Didn't we read it had been dyed pink and it was streaky? I wonder of it was the same one and what happened to it afterwards? Where was TLM when JG was said to have seen the coat at her home? And while I'm at it I noticed that JG seems to have been conspicuously absent from the proceedings today - at least I saw no mention of him in any media reports. Did you? Maybe he will also be called as a witness? Or maybe he and TM have been ordered to have no contact and not be within a certain distance of one another as a result of the criminal charges pending against them?

James may have testify which is could be why he was not there. Or perhaps no camera "caught him on tape". I hope Daryn does not have to testify. Maybe some legal eagle can assure us that there would no need for Daryn or James to be called as witnesses.

 

[daisy.faithfull]

Vinnie N. didn't mention Tori in his opening. Have any of the HLN shows mentioned that Tori's trial is coming up?

OT: If anyone is following, Jason Young was found guilty. A largely circumstantial case.

 

[antiquegirl]

I respectfully disagree, I think they are cowards enough to not want to hear her screams and see her struggles. She was sexually assaulted, drugged, then killed.

JMO

I believe that Tori was drugged, as well. The question is when and in what order the events happened. She could have been drugged before the sexual assault. (I hope so!) If she was, it was not out of compassion, or even cowardice, but for practical purposes. That feisty child had to be kept quiet all the way from Woodstock, through Guelph, and several stops before the Mt. Forest destination. Maybe she was drugged immediately, but it wore off and they went to get more from BA. Maybe her protests got worse by Guelph and that's when they felt the need to silence her.

If BA interacted with both MTR and TLM, that would mean that Tori would have been left alone in the car. They'd never do that, IMO, had she been conscious. If BA was MTR's friend and not TLM's, it would make sense that she'd stay behind while he picked up the drugs. Otherwise, Tori could have escaped or screamed. The other possibility is that BA is lying and Tori went into the house with them. BA could then be charged as an accessory and for withholding evidence.

There are many more possibilities here. We'll have to wait for the defence's statements and evidence to hear another side to this story.

All above JMO

 

[nonfictionrocks]

If BA was dealing Percocets and maybe even other drugs (who knows!?) then how credible a witness will SHE be? If she was dealing she may also have been using that day. Who knows if she has been or will be honest? Maybe she is minimizing what she knows, saw or heard in the days leading up to, day of and perhaps even following the abduction.

If she was dealing percs she could be also dealing all kinds of other stuff - using too. Perhaps LE offered her some kind of incentive for her testimony.

 

[daisy.faithfull]

If she was dealing percs she could be also dealing all kinds of other stuff - using too. Perhaps LE offered her some kind of incentive for her testimony.

If she was dealing she also may have been on drugs at the time, something that would make her an even more unreliable witness.