The murder trial of Mark Twitchell opened Wednesday with an explosive opening statement detailing the Crown's case against the former St. Albert man.
The statement, which outlines the case the Crown intends to prove, showed the police have located the remains of Twitchell's alleged victim Johnny Brian Altinger, and that those remains were found badly decomposed in a sewer just two blocks from Twitchell's parents' home.
Crown prosecutor Lawrence Van Dyke detailed the case, which will attempt to show that Twitchell developed a dark interest in murder and set about attempting to fulfil his interest.
“Mark Twitchell formulated a plan, that plan was quite simply, to gain the experience of killing another human being,” Van Dyke told the jury.
Van Dyke detailed a host of forensic evidence the Crown will present, including bloodied clothing found in Twitchell's St. Albert home, an assortment of weapons with Altinger's blood found in various places, including Twitchell's car.
Van Dyke took great pains to explain to the jury that the opening statement is not evidence, but merely a roadmap of evidence the Crown intends to present.
When the full evidence is put before the court he said, he's confident the jury will be able to convict Twitchell of first-degree murder.
Twitchell surprised the court by offering a guilty plea to a much lesser charge of improperly interfering with a dead body. The Crown refused to accept the plea.
The case is expected to run between four to six weeks and has attracted national and international media attention.
