Image Credit: FILE PHOTO
July 12, 2016 - 4:50 PM
LANGUAGE ADVISORY
KAMLOOPS - A jury has heard from the last of Crown's witnesses in the trial for a man accused of raping a woman at gunpoint in 2009.
None of the witnesses can be identified due to a court-ordered publication ban.
Court heard earlier today, July 12, the allegations from the complainant that the accused, Taylor James Matchett, parked his car on Tranquille Road on Nov. 11, 2009 in front of a woman who offered him sexual services for cash, and got into his car. They planned to go to the victim's home, but the accused drove to McArthur Island Park instead, she said.
The woman said that's where Matchett pulled out a gun and told her to give him oral sex. He said if she bit him he would shoot and kill her.
She says the raped went on for 20 minutes before she saw a chance to escape and found a home where she was allowed to use a phone.
That homeowner took the stand via video conference in Kamloops Supreme Court this afternoon. She told the court that on the night of the incident nearly seven years ago, she was watching a movie at home with her two sons.
The doorbell rang, and she said because of some criminal activity that had been going on in the area, she was hesitant to open it.
But she eventually let the complainant inside so she could call 911. The homeowner told police that the victim looked "more together than someone who just went through a horrific situation," and noted that her clothes were in place and her make up was still on.
She said although the victim didn't seem overly distraught, she could tell something bad had happened.
"She seemed desperate. She seemed frightened, she was scared," the homeowner told the court.
Two police officers who attended the scene at McArthur Island Park also took the stand, saying they noticed a lighter, tire marks and two Tim Horton's cups at the scene where the assault was reported.
One of the officers showed pictures of the scene where footprints, that are not believed to be from police, can be seen.
The trial is expected to wrap up at the end of the week.
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