CALGARY | The lawyer for a Quebecer accused of murder in Alberta questioned the rigor of the working methods of officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Gatineau police.
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“Did you measure Mr. [Stéphane] Parent or only estimate his height? Have you had any training in measuring people? M asked yesterdaye Gavin Wolch, to police officer Dave Beaudoin, who was testifying virtually at the courthouse in Calgary, Alta.
It was this member of the Gatineau police force, in the Outaouais region, who carried out the arrest and Bertillonage of the 53-year-old accused in February 2018.
In police jargon, Bertillonage means taking the suspect’s fingerprints and photo to make an identification sheet, the police officer tried to explain to the jury, through a difficult and often inaccurate translation.
However, it seems that the size of Stéphane Parent, accused of having killed his girlfriend Adrienne McColl, on Valentine’s Day in 2002, became an important issue yesterday, on the seventh day of his trial for unpremeditated murder.
According to police officer Beaudoin’s notes, the alleged assassin was 178 cm or 5 ft 10 in.
“But if I suggest that Mr. Parent is 6ft or 6ft 1in, you are not in a position to contradict me,” the defense said.
“It is a personal estimate”, replied the witness, without giving reason to the criminal lawyer.
Size stake
However, these few inches take on all their importance when attached to jeans found under a vehicle at the Calgary airport after the crime.
Courtesy photo of the court
The DNA of the accused and the blood of the victim were reportedly identified on the jeans found under a vehicle.
According to the Crown theory, the DNA of the accused and the blood of the victim were collected from these pants, recovered near a vehicle linked to this case.
Earlier yesterday, retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) constable Daniel Palmer said the jeans were 30 ”in length.
“Sounds like someone about my height,” the 5’9 ” taller noted.
The defense also attacked the credibility of this Crown witness, implying that he could have contaminated the piece of clothing during his handling.
Constable Daniel Palmer confessed that he may not always have worn gloves while touching the jeans and that he did not wash his uniform every day, even though he traveled to several crime scenes.
Fingerprints
The other item that seems to incriminate the Quebecer, according to the Crown, is a blue plastic bag found under the body of the 21-year-old victim.
Two fingerprints which would come from the index and middle finger of Stéphane Parent were taken there by Dr. Rolanda Lam and authenticated by Sergeant Maryse Laurin.
Courtesy photo of the court
The 53-year-old man’s fingerprints were allegedly taken from that blue garbage bag.
Similar items were found under the kitchen sink at the victim’s residence, suggesting the killer was at the scene at one point.
Questioned by the defense, Sergeant Laurin said she could not specify when the prints were left on the bags.
“They could have been left by taking another bag under the sink or throwing the garbage,” suggested Me Wolch.
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