(GLYNN BROTHEN / iNFOnews.ca)
January 19, 2015 - 12:48 PM
KAMLOOPS – The second-degree murder charge against a Lytton man boils down to a number, according to Crown Prosecutor Frank Caputo.
“This case is about 73 stab wounds,” Caputo told the jury of eight men and four women during his opening statement in Kamloops Supreme Court today, Jan. 19.
Cory Peter Bird, born 1987, faces one count of second-degree murder in the death of Albert Michell.
As he outlined the Crown’s case against Bird, Caputo said the accused met the victim in the summer of 2008 before the two lived together in Michell’s Lytton apartment.
On August 13, Caputo said the friends, along with a third man, travelled to Boston Bar where they purchased alcohol. That evening, Caputo said the trio drank alcohol and watched the movie Apocalypse Now.
The Crown believes that Michell was killed sometime during the evening after the third man left, Caputo said.
Michell’s decomposed body was found in his apartment by family members days after Bird left town, Caputo said.
He said evidence will show Bird was detained in a Montreal Canada Post office after he allegedly barricaded himself, announced he had a gun and told police he murdered a man in British Columbia.
Through interviews with police investigators, Caputo said Bird originally claimed he killed Michell out of self-defence but later recanted his story after he was unable to explain the number of stab wounds.
“Bird was unable to explain how he killed Albert Michell,” Caputo said.
Throughout the trial, Crown plans to draw on evidence from police officers, forensic investigators, the doctor who conducted the autopsy on the victim’s body and associates of the accused.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Glynn Brothen at gbrothen@infonews.ca or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015