THUNDER BAY - The trial against a man accused of two counts of second-degree murder in the 2015 deaths of 60-year-old Wilfred Pott and 50-year-old Anne Chuchmuch opened in a Thunder Bay Courtroom on Tuesday.
Benjamin Ronald Marki, 41, was arraigned before a 12-person jury and Justice Terrence Platana. He is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one count of arson endangering life, and one count of committing an indignity to a body.
Marki entered a plea of not guilty to all charges.
On the night of Dec. 27, 2015, Thunder Bay Fire Rescue was called to reports of a house fire on the 300 block of Brant Street. Fire crews found Pott unresponsive inside, as well as the burned remains of Chuchmuch.
Three weeks later, Thunder Bay Police confirmed the residence was the scene of a double homicide and Marki, who was living in the Brant Street residence at the time of the fire, was arrested and charged on Jan. 15 following a covert investigation.
In his opening remarks, Crown attorney, Andrew Sadler, told the jury that he intends to prove over the course of the trial that Marki was responsible for the deaths of Pott and Chuchmuch.
“It wasn’t the fire that killed Pott and Chuchmuch,” he said. “They were both stabbed before that fire.”
Pott was found with multiple stab wounds to his face and chest, as well as his upper thigh. Chuchmuch was stabbed more than 40 times.
Marki’s defense attorney, George Joseph, emphasized in his opening remarks that the evidence in this case is circumstantial.
“Throughout the course of this trial you will not have one witness say they saw Mr. Marki commit a criminal offence,” Joseph said.
On Tuesday, Sadler called several witnesses to testify including first responders from Thunder Bay Fire Rescue, Superior North EMS, and Thunder Bay Police.
According to testimony from Jim Gowanlock, who was acting as fire captain when Thunder Bay Fire Rescue crews responded to Brant Street, black smoke could be seen coming from the front and rear of the residence.
An individual was removed from the house after a first sweep of the main floor. He was unresponsive and crews administered CPR. During a second sweep of the house, another individual was found deceased near the back entranced covered by debris.
When the first victim, later identified as Pott, was loaded into the ambulance, fire crews became aware that the residence was now the scene of a crime.
“It wasn’t until the victim was loaded into the ambulance with lights that we saw chest wounds and knew it was a crime scene,” Gowanlock testified.
Gowanlock also testified that he witnessed an individual outside of the building whom he had to encourage to move away from the building and to a safer area.
Gowanlock testified the individual said he lived in the residence and was out walking his dog and informed him that a second dog may be in the house. He then told Gowanlock that two individuals might also be inside the house.
“I just felt it was odd that I had to drag it out of him that there were two people in the house,” Gowanlock testified.
Christa Nitz, a primary care paramedic who responded to the scene, also testified on Tuesday.
She said after Potts was loaded into the ambulance, she noticed his pant leg was saturated in blood.
“Once we got into the ambulance we noticed pretty quickly these wounds to his face,” she said. “We removed his clothes and found what appeared to be stab wounds on his chest.”
Potts never regained consciousness after being found inside and he was pronounced dead at hospital.
The court also heard testimony from retired Det. Const. Nancy Tillberg, who was with the forensic identification unit.
She showed the court several photographs of the scene, which included the burned remains of Chuchmuch near the back entrance, instances of blood-like staining found throughout the main floor of the residence, and two knives found in a garage on a property directly behind the Brant Street residence that also had blood like staining on the blades.
According to Tillberg’s testimony, all of Marki’s personal belongings were seized that night and instances of blood-like staining were found on his socks and photographed.
Tillberg also took swabs and samples of fur from two dogs found on scene that appeared to have blood-like staining on their heads and backs.
Sadler said the Crown could call a total of 15 witnesses during the trial, which continues Wednesday morning. Marki remains in custody.
