Investigators at the crime scene on Trinity Valley Road June 20, 2014, the day after the alleged shooting.

(CHARLOTTE HELSTON / iNFOnews.ca)

VICTIM SUFFERED FRACTURED RIB BEFORE SHE DIED

VERNON - A North Okanagan woman likely suffered a single gunshot wound to her back at fairly close range the night she died, a pathologist testified yesterday in Howard Everett Krewson’s second degree murder trial.

Krewson stands accused of the June 2014 shooting death of local teacher Linda Marie Stewart, also known as Linda Ross. His trial is currently underway in Vernon Supreme Court before Justice Frank Cole.

Crown counsel Shirley Meldrum called Dr. Gilles Molgat yesterday, Sept. 15, and questioned him about the autopsy he performed on Stewart.

During a portion of his testimony, Molgat described entrance and exit wounds from the bullet, and said there were small abrasions where the bullet entered, likely from gunpowder. He said this effect is usually seen when the person is shot from about two feet away. What appeared to be fragments of safety glass were also found embedded in her body, Molgat said, later adding the bullet likely passed through glass before it hit her.

The autopsy also revealed bruising and a fractured rib that was unrelated to the gunshot injury, Molgat said. The fracture was likely caused by blunt force trauma to her upper chest within 24 hours before she died.

A forensic analyst also testified Thursday and was asked specifically about a Ruger New Model Super Blackhawk revolver and various lead fragments. He told the six-man, six-woman jury the revolver functioned normally when tested at the lab.

Earlier in the week, paramedics described arriving at the Trinity Valley Road residence to find a dead woman slumped over in the driver’s seat of a car, and an injured man inside the house. One first responder recalled that when he asked who the woman in the car was, Krewson replied, ‘my wife, I shot her.’

The trial continues today.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston or call 250-309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2016