trial thread: 4/02/2012

[dilbert]

Oh, she denied that too.

"I don't know how my mind was working any better than anyone else does," she said.

She also denied that during the ride when the couple stopped for green tea at Tim Hortons, she specifically asked for one with three sugars and one and a half milk.

"If there's a child cowering in the back seat of your car, how is it that you're coming up with the idea that a tea would be just lovely?" Derstine asked sarcastically.

http://www2.canada.com/story.html?id=6348070

 

[matou]

Rafferty was not allowed out of the vehicle but had audio communication with his lawyer.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/raffertytrial/2012/04/02/19585026.html

 

[matou]

Also missing was the rock.
At some point after Tori was found, the owner of the lane had placed that rock under the evergreens to commemorate the little girl.
Large, oblong, smooth and dark, it sat incongruously on the pile of field stones nearby Monday, perhaps awaiting a return to the evergreen chapel.


http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/raffertytrial/2012/04/02/19585026.html

 

[Hello_Kitty]

Blatchford: Jury's tour of murder site seems to show killer was telling the truth


http://www.edmontonjournal.com/tech...+show+killer+telling+truth/6399845/story.html

 

[matou]

A beautiful day today. Not cold or snowy like 3 years ago. I hope this visit had an impact on the jury. JMO

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/l...isits-scene-120402/20120402/?hub=WinnipegHome

 

[flipflop]

Missing as well Monday were purple ribbons that adorned the two gateway evergreens not long after Tori's body was found.

At some point after Tori was found, the owner of the lane had placed that rock under the evergreens to commemorate the little girl.

Large, oblong, smooth and dark, it sat incongruously on the pile of field stones nearby Monday, perhaps awaiting a return to the evergreen chapel.

A few hundred kilometres away, off another rural road, this one outside of Woodstock, sits another stone.

It is heart-shaped, with an angel resting on top. It is engraved with the name "Victoria 'Tori' Elizabeth Marie Stafford" and marks her final resting place.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/raffertytrial/2012/04/02/19585026.html

 

[dilbert]

Blatchford: Jury's tour of murder site seems to show killer was telling the truth


http://www.edmontonjournal.com/tech...+show+killer+telling+truth/6399845/story.html

Yes it does, she admitted to being there and killing Victoria, nice to see the Crown back up that information.

 

[Wondergirl]

In descriptions to police, entered as evidence, and in additional testimony at Rafferty's trial, McClintic provided details about the laneway where she says Tori was raped and killed:

• [*]The laneway sat across a road from a nice bungalow, with an arched doorway and at an angle to the road.
  
  [*]The laneway dipped over a ditch or creek, the water running through metal tubes, then rose.
  
  [*]Rafferty parked the car by a rock pile near a bend at the top of the laneway.
  
  [*]McClintic wandered away several times, toward a fence. She could see silos in the distance but had a clear view of the rock pile where Rafferty assaulted Tori. Rafferty told McClintic once to check for cars and she wandered to a spot where she could see the road.
  
  [*]The two tossed Tori's body, covered in garbage bags, at the spot near the end of the rock pile away from the laneway, under a pine tree.
  [*]

Here's what jurors were asked to observe, and what reporters could observe on their own later:

• Yellow lettered markers in various places that matched letters in a guidebook with instructions.
  
• At site A, jurors were asked to look across the road at a house. The house is a nice bungalow with an arched doorway that sits at an angle to the road.
  
• At site B, halfway to the top of the laneway, jurors were asked to notice a creek and look up the laneway to a bend. The creek does indeed run through several metal tubes, or culverts.
  
• At spot C, the bend at the top of the laneway, jurors were asked to look north to the rock pile and east for a fence if possible. The fence and rock pile were visible, the rock pile close.
  
• At site D, the rock pile itself, jurors were told to look back toward the house. To reporters, it was clear the house could not be seen from the rock pile.
  
• Site E marked an area near a fence east of the rock pile. Jurors were asked to look back northwest to the rock pile. The rock pile was visible, and it took this reporter 45 steps to walk the distance from fence to rock pile.
  
• The next two sites were not marked in reality, but only in the guidebook. To the north from the fence, jurors were told to look for silos, marked as F in their books. Those silos could be discerned, but not at a glance, through far away tree branches.
  To the southwest, they were to look for more silos. Several silos rose above the treeline, easily spotted.
  
• Finally, at site H, jurors were told to look to the north of the rock pile. When OPP Det. Staff Sgt. Jim Smyth found Tori's body July 19, 2009, he had to push lower branches aside and move one rock to make sure of his find. On Monday, the lower branches and rocks were removed so jurors could get a clear view of where Tori's body was left.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/raffertytrial/2012/04/02/19585026.html

 

[Alison]

Good day fellow sleuthers, first off I would like to comment on the flowers and the commemerative stone being removed. I believe this was done so as not to influence the jury in anyway shape or form. They are to have a professional detachment, so I assume the defence attorny fought to have anything removed that may bias the jury. Also you want them examining the area not looking at the stones and flowers as they are not part of the case.

Secondly I did not have a chance to post on the day when the lady testified about the shoes and I appologize if someone already said this, but I believe that either attorney did not ask her to describe the other shoe as it could have opened a can of worms for either side. For the crown to question her about the shoes one could ponder was there really another shoe? It is all hearsay. No point in bringing something up that can not be proven. Secondly the shoe IMO was a man's shoe that is why the defence chose to not to bring it up, because it could have some jurors "believing" TLM's version of events.

 

[matou]

Though she changed her story earlier this year and reiterated it at trial to say she was the actual murderer, in her first confession May 19 and then again on May 24 that year, McClintic admitted having lured Tori away, but blamed the killing on Rafferty.
But what has remained consistent throughout is her allegation that the kidnapping was Rafferty's idea, that it was sexually motivated and that he violently raped the eight-year-old in his car by that rock pile.

Read more: http://www.canada.com/technology/Bl...elling+truth/6399845/story.html#ixzz1qwKpM9Hh

I wonder if Blatch reads here? Someone posted almost the exact same statement here. JMO
​

 

[KMouse]

Jury didn't stay very long. I hope they had time to check the positions of those silos carefully.

If us WSers were there you wouldn't be able to get us out. We would be making scale drawings etc. LOL

 

[Kamille]

~Respectfully snipped~

Great post Kamille - I just want to say, that here in the states and I'm assuming in Canada also - it is the defendant's choice to move forward with a trial. Even if there was so much DNA evidence you could swim in it and defendant's lawyer strongly recommended not going forward with a trial because there was no way to win - the defendant has the final say. The defendant always has the right to make the state (or in Canada, the Crown) prove their case.

This worked out quite well for Casey Anthony. Not to derail the thread, but there was more than one plea deal put in front of her and she refused them all and I would bet money (this is just my opinion) that her lawyer recommended she accept one or two of those deals.

Salem

That's true Salem. There is no way IMO that MR would have been able to plea down on these charges so I suppose he figured he might as well give it a try since the end result would be the same even if he is convicted at the end of this trial.

MOO

 

[Sillybilly]

I have hoped that as well. JMO I feel that VS felt she was in danger when they headed out of Woodstock, Im sure she was feisty and loud, perhaps this is why they needed to stop at Timmies, to mix something in her juice to keep her quiet.

IIRC, TM had said in one of her pressers to the effect that Tori would put up a fight.

 

[matou]

IIRC, TM had said in one of her pressers to the effect that Tori would put up a fight.

Maybe she did. The horn went off and MR was yelling at TLM for something when MR was alone with Tori. JMO

 

[Wondergirl]

What the sombre excursion arguably did most was inform the jurors of a central fact — that though McClintic, as her testimony in court amply demonstrated, may be a violent and irredeemably damaged human being and though she only recently confessed to being the actual killer, she remembered the killing ground with striking accuracy and appears to genuinely have wanted to help police find the little girl's remains.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/tech...+show+killer+telling+truth/6399845/story.html

 

[Hello_Kitty]

Yes it does, she admitted to being there and killing Victoria, nice to see the Crown back up that information.

With all due respect

I think you're missing the point but I think the point was to show that even though she lied at first, there are still parts of her story that are the truth And her description of what she saw when she alledgedly walked away from the car when MR was abusing TS.

 

[dilbert]

With all due respect

I think you're missing the point but I think the point was to show that even though she lied at first, there are still parts of her story that are the truth And her description of what she saw when she alledgedly walked away from the car when MR was abusing TS.

Didn't miss a thing. Thanks.

 

[dar107]

Also missing was the rock.
At some point after Tori was found, the owner of the lane had placed that rock under the evergreens to commemorate the little girl.
Large, oblong, smooth and dark, it sat incongruously on the pile of field stones nearby Monday, perhaps awaiting a return to the evergreen chapel.


http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/raffertytrial/2012/04/02/19585026.html

So very heartbreaking and haunting to just take that journey through reading the Jurors guidebook and seeing pictures on a screen. I cannot fathom what it was like to be there today, how anyone could take those steps without completely breaking down. Good to hear her family got some private time first.

 

[Wondergirl]

A sombre and compelling visit.

But it was the views McClintic described that were probably most compelling and which were really brought into sharp focus by the tour.

Though she changed her story earlier this year and reiterated it at trial to say she was the actual murderer, in her first confession May 19 and then again on May 24 that year, McClintic admitted having lured Tori away, but blamed the killing on Rafferty.

But what has remained consistent throughout is her allegation that the kidnapping was Rafferty's idea, that it was sexually motivated and that he violently raped the eight-year-old in his car by that rock pile.

According to McClintic, the duo parked the car by the rocks.

As Rafferty began to sexually assault the little girl, McClintic said, she couldn't bear to watch and with Tori's pleas for help ringing unanswered in her ears, she walked away from the vehicle to a section of the fence.

From that vantage point, she said, she could clearly see — when she dared look back — Rafferty, naked from the waist down through the open door of the rear passenger seat, assaulting Tori in his lap.

Sure enough, the sightline she described and which the jurors saw would have afforded a clear view.

Other times during the assault, McClintic told police and testified at trial, she would look away, toward farmers' fields and, in the distance, silos.

Sure enough, the site is surrounded by dun-coloured fields and off in the distance in no fewer than two directions are silos

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/tech...+show+killer+telling+truth/6399845/story.html

 

[Macright]

What the sombre excursion arguably did most was inform the jurors of a central fact — that though McClintic, as her testimony in court amply demonstrated, may be a violent and irredeemably damaged human being and though she only recently confessed to being the actual killer, she remembered the killing ground with striking accuracy and appears to genuinely have wanted to help police find the little girl's remains.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/tech...+show+killer+telling+truth/6399845/story.html

I doubt very much that "she genuinely wanted to help the police...she more than likely thought it would help her to squeeze out a lighter sentence...I give this person no credit whatsoever and if I attempted to post just exactly what I personally think of her and MR I would be banned for life from this site...I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion but I cringe when I read anything positive about this person... I have my own opinion why she could recall the surroundings that evening and it is not about her turning her back and moving away from an ugly scene...JMO