THUNDER BAY – The Crown has closed its case against Monica Spence and Daniel Debassige, with the defence getting their turn to present evidence next week.
The pair are on trial for second-degree murder in the December death of Richard Spence after the body of the 62-year-old was found in his Secord Street apartment building.
Crown prosecutor Rob Kozak called his final witness Friday morning, the fourth day of evidence since his opening address to the jury on Tuesday.
The 12 jurors – eight men and four women – were shown crime scene photos with the victim lying face down in a pool of blood with his pants down below his waist and belt appearing to be undone. As well, autopsy photos showing Spence with numerous facial injuries and both eyes appearing to be swollen shut were presented as evidence.
Pathologist Dr. Kona Williams testified Spence had died from a combination of blunt force trauma injuries to his face, alcohol intoxication, blood in his airways and severe heart disease.
Williams said there were 74 separate injuries identified, 44 of which were in the head and neck area including a fractured nose and two damaged teeth.
Thunder Bay Police Service Det. Ian West, the lead investigator of the case, on Wednesday testified Monica Spence told him “he raped me, he raped me” almost immediately after being placed under arrest about 12 hours after the body of Richard Spence was found. The sister of Richard Spence said they were "second or third" cousins of Monica Spence.
The next day she appeared in video court and was remanded to the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre when she requested a sexual assault kit. She was taken to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre where the kit was conducted, though she did not initially consent to the evidence being transferred to police. That evidence was finally tested this February, more than two years later.
Tara Brutzki, a forensic scientist at the Centre of Forensic Sciences’ northern regional laboratory, took the stand on Thursday with reports on DNA collected at the crime scene entered as exhibits.
Among her findings was that Debassige could not be excluded as the source of DNA sample found on Richard Spence’s penis, with a one in 10 billion probability it originated from someone other than the suspect.
When the sexual assault kit was tested, there was no evidence of Richard Spence’s DNA being present. The only male DNA found could not exclude Debassige, her boyfriend at the time, as the source.
Defence lawyers Christopher Watkins and Francis Thatcher theorized the absence of Richard Spence’s DNA in the sexual assault kit could be a result of him either using a condom or not ejaculating, two possibilities Brutzki acknowledged were possible.
Other DNA from which Debassige could not excluded as the source was found in fingernail clippings from the left hand of Richard Spence, blood on a living room wall of the Secord Street apartment and semen on underwear worn by Monica Spence at the time of her arrest.
Diane Hanson, who shared a residence with Debassige, testified on Thursday that Debassige came home on the afternoon of Dec. 20, 2014 saying he had “killed a rapist.”
Debassige was arrested on Jan. 1, 2015 – 11 days after the body of Richard Spence was discovered – when he was found by officers appearing to be hiding and crouching in a room in the residence he shared with Hanson.
Monica Spence could not be excluded as the source of DNA found on blood covered tissues found at the crime scene, blood on a pair of pants found on the living room floor, blood on a sweater and pants she was wearing at the time of her arrest and the pair of jeans Richard Spence was wearing when his body was located.
As well, a jacket she was wearing at the time of her arrest had DNA from which Richard Spence cannot be excluded as the source.
The court heard that Richard Spence had been convicted of sexual assault against Monica Spence in 2007, receiving a 15-month conditional sentence. He had also spent 10 months in prison for an indecent assault against an unspecified victim.
The trial resumes on Monday.
