The first three days of Mark Twitchell's murder trial were full of shocking revelations as the Crown revealed police have found the victim's remains, forensic experts testified about the evidence they found and Twitchell attempted to enter a guilty plea to a lesser charge.
Twitchell's trial on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Johnny Brian Altinger began Wednesday with a gripping opening statement from Crown prosecutor Lawrence Van Dyke, outlining much of the evidence that will be presented.
Van Dyke said the case would show that Twitchell concocted a plan to kill and then acted it out.
"Mark Twitchell formulated a plan, that plan was quite simply and shockingly, to gain the experience of killing another human being," he said.
Prior to the opening statement, Twitchell surprised the court by offering a guilty plea to a much lesser charge of improperly interfering with a dead body. That offer was made after he pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, but the Crown declined to accept the plea.
Van Dyke's statement was just an outline of the case, but it gave the overall roadmap the Crown intends to present. He said the jury would eventually hear how Twitchell's clothing, as well as weapons in his possession, had traces of Altinger's blood.
He said Twitchell had Altinger's car and gave a fanciful story to the police about how he came to possess it.
"You will hear he told the police an absurd story that he bought the vehicle for $40."
Van Dyke said the Crown's case alleges Altinger was lured to a south-side Edmonton garage through an online dating service before being attacked.
He said Twitchell had been shooting a movie several weeks prior called House of Cards that had that same scenario as its plot.
"The general plot of that film was about a male who lures his victims through an online dating service and ultimately kills his victim."
Van Dyke told the jury that Altinger had arranged to meet a girl named Jen through an online dating site and was sent directions of where to meet her. He forwarded those directions to a friend and when police later followed them, they took them on a chilling path.
"The deliberate step-by-step directions led, as you might have already guessed, to the same garage that was being rented by Mark Twitchell."
Forensic evidence
The first three witnesses to testify in the case have been members of the Edmonton Police Service forensic unit.
One of those officers, Const. Gary Short, took the jury through a series of photos taken during the search of several properties connected to Twitchell, including his home in Deer Ridge.
Short also testified about a sewer location, two blocks from Twitchell's parents' home, where human remains were found in June 2010 after police met with Twitchell at the Edmonton Remand Centre.
Officers seized more than 100 exhibits from those locations. Among them were four Japanese swords, a goalie mask and a pair of jeans from the St. Albert home.
They also found receipts in Twitchell's name for the garage where police allege the crime took place and receipts from the St. Albert Walmart and Home Depot for locks, duct tape, plastic coveralls, tarps and cleaning supplies.
Police also found a shipping manifest for a large 45-gallon steel drum.
Const. Nancy Allen testified that both the jeans and the goalie mask had suspected bloodstains on them. She said the stains reacted to a chemical test indicating blood, but they were sent to a lab for further testing. She has not yet testified about the results of those tests.
In Twitchell's car they found a military-style knife with extensive suspected bloodstains.
They also found keys to Altinger's red Mazda 3, which Twitchell had parked at a friend's house.
In the rented garage, officers found multiple items with suspected bloodstains on them, including a game butchering kit. They also tested the floor for blood using a chemical called luminol that glows blue in the presence of blood.
Metal pipe
On Friday morning, Allen testified about a large metal pipe that was found in the garage with a significant amount of what she believed to be blood. The pipe was wrapped with black cloth tape at one end.
"I would actually classify it as almost blood-soaked."
Throughout the trial, Twitchell has been largely unresponsive, sitting at the defence table in a white golf shirt and khaki pants. He has mostly kept his head down and followed along in the exhibit binder as the evidence is being introduced.
The trial continues on Monday and is expected to run between four and six weeks. It has attracted national and international media attention. The Gazette will have continuing coverage of the case.
