After nearly four weeks of testimony from more than 20 witnesses and in excess of 100 exhibits entered into evidence, Crown prosecutors closed their case against Mark Twitchell. Their last witness was the detective who found Johnny Altinger's remains after meeting with the accused killer last summer.
Jurors in the first-degree murder trial heard testimony Tuesday morning from Det. Bradley Mandrusiak. He and his partner went to the Edmonton Remand Centre for a meeting with Twitchell and his lawyer, Charles Davidson, on June 3, 2010.
At the meeting, Twitchell slid across a piece of paper to the detective. The paper, admitted as evidence, was a Google map with an indication of where police could find Altinger's remains.
Noted with a red circle, the note reads: "Location of Johnny Altinger's remains. In alley way between 86 St and 87 St, south of 130 Avenue."
Madrusiak went to the location that night and spotted what he believed to be human remains at the bottom of the storm sewer. After guarding the scene overnight, police returned the next day with several members of the medical examiner's office. Medical examiners already testified partial human remains were found in the bottom of the sewer and identified as Altinger.
After a brief cross examination, Crown prosecutor Lawrence Van Dyke told the jury Twitchell turned over the map only on the condition that there be no publicity around it, to which police agreed.
Lengthy case
That last piece of evidence brought to a close an exhaustive presentation from the Crown that actually ran shorter than initially expected.
Several admissions the defence made during the case have eliminated the need for many of the witnesses the Crown expected to call.
Over the course of the trial the six men and six women on the jury heard from forensic officers who testified about the hundreds of pieces of evidence they seized from Twitchell's St. Albert home, the garage he rented in south Edmonton, Twitchell's parent's residence and Altinger's condominium.
Those pieces of evidence include a blood-stained pipe, which an expert testified last week was a DNA match to Altinger.
The jury also heard from Altinger's friends who told them that on the date police believe he was killed he planned to go on a date with a woman he had met online through the dating site plentyoffish.com.
A member of the Edmonton Police Technological Crimes unit also testified about a document found on Twitchell's laptop, called "SK confessions."
The document, read to the jury, is a blow-by-blow account of a killer's plan to attack, murder and dismember a total stranger after luring them through an online dating site.
The Crown called multiple witnesses who testified about real-life events in Twitchell's life around the same time of the murder that seem to mirror events in the document.
Jurors also viewed a video of a lengthy integration between Twitchell and homicide Det. Bill Clark.
Last Friday, they also heard from one of the most compelling witnesses, Gilles Tetreault, who testified he went to Twitchell's rented garage the week before police allege Altinger was killed there.
Tetreault testified that after corresponding with a woman through the same dating website, he went to the garage and was attacked by a man wearing a hockey mask.
He told the jury the man grabbed him and hit him repeatedly before producing a gun and ordering him to the ground. Tetreault said duct tape was put over his eyes, but he decided to fight back and then realized the gun was plastic.
After a brief struggle he eventually got away and encountered a couple walking nearby. The couple also testified about the strange event and said they saw the man with the mask, who returned to the garage.
Defence case
The case for the defence, if they choose to call any witnesses, was expected to begin today.
Since the onus is on the Crown to prove Twitchell's guilt the defence does not have to call any witnesses and Davidson has not yet indicated his intentions.
