deadmonton - the trial of michael white - november 2nd, 2006
Liana White, 29, was stabbed to death July 12th, 2005.
Michael White, then 28, was charged with second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a dead body.
<< october 30th, 2006 | the michael white trial | november 3rd, 2006 >>
Michael White's trial began with lawyers for the Crown and the defence outlining to the jury what they could expect to hear during the scheduled 21 days of his trial.
The Crown's intended case against the accused wife-killer includes surveillance video showing the White family SUV being driven to a recreation field parking lot an hour before it was discovered.
It was said someone other than Liana was captured by a Richard's Pub security camera driving the vehicle. The camera then caught a tall bald man walking away from it.
"That man is a big man. That man has no hair," said Crown prosecutor Troy Couillard. "Michael White is a big man. Michael White has hair now, but he had none back in July of 2005. His head was shaved."
Witnesses were to be called who spotted Liana's Ford Explorer at 5:45 a.m. on July 12th. White told police she didn't leave home to go to work until 6:15 a.m. He later changed his story.
Couillard told the jury the driver's side door was left wide open, that a purse, bank card and shoes were lying on the ground, and that a set of keys were on the floor by the driver's seat. A child's car seat was in the back.
Couillard announced he would also introduce a literal laundry list of clothing Michael White picked up in a field north of Edmonton and dumped in front of his house.
White was under police surveillance when he picked up two garbage bags on July 14th, then took them home and put them outside for garbage pick-up.
An officer riding in a garbage truck later seized the bags.
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Inside the bags were paper towels still wet with blood and clumps of hair. The bags also contained a broken lamp, a twin of one found in the White's bedroom, and male clothing also stained with blood.
Also inside the bags were light-blue latex gloves with Liana's DNA on the outside and White's DNA on the inside.
White later told police that he was being a "Good Samaritan" for picking up abandoned trash.
Couillard said police also found traces of blood on the bed and the bedroom walls, on a path leading to the front door and on the floor of the garage. The bloodtrail continued to the back of the SUV.
Blood was also found on a bottle of bleach. The prosecutor noted the SUV showed signs that someone had tried to wipe it clean of blood.
Couillard told jurors they will hear Liana White died of “homicidal violence,” had two stab wounds to her back and wounds on her fingertips, and likely died from an injury in the neck region.
Dental records were required to identify her body after it had been left in a ditch for five days in the summer heat.
"Michael White would have had the police believe that Liana White left home and never came back, that she was killed somewhere he didn't know, by someone else he didn't know," Couillard summed up in his opening address.
"When you look at all the evidence, you'll see a picture of Michael White killing his wife and trying to cover it up."
“A picture of Michael White stabbing his wife, cleaning up the blood in his bedroom, taking her body and leaving it in a ditch, taking her Ford Explorer and abandoning it in a field, dumping the evidence from his home, leaving it for the garbage to pick up and pleading for people to help find her... knowing all the while that she is lying in the ditch where he left her.”
For its part, the defence provided the most notable news of the proceedings so far with the announcement that Michael White would take the stand and testify in his own defence.
Defence lawyer Robert Shaigec urged jury members not to rush to judgment or be swayed with sympathy.
He warned the seven men and five women they will have to look at "gruesome" photos during the trial.
"She was pregnant, her body was found rotting in a ditch," Shaigec said. "It's alleged Michael White lied to the city of Edmonton to get help to find her.
"It's hard to imagine more disturbing allegations."
Shaigec said his client "is going to stand right there and take that Bible and take that oath and what he tells us will not be circumstantial."
"What Michael White will say to you is: ‘I did not kill my wife. I loved my wife. I am an innocent man.’ "
Throughout the preceedings White, now 29, sat in a grey suit in the prisoner's box looking pale and nervous.
He occasionally scanned the crowd of about fifty in the court room, often blinking his eyes and frowning as if he might burst into tears.
As the court clerk read out the charges White stood and quietly stated, “I am not guilty.”
Police forensic technician Const. Clint Holm took the stand and described how he processed the scene where the SUV was found.
As soon as he started working he said he knew that what he was dealing with was going to be more than just a missing person case.
He noted that the driver seat of the SUV was pushed so far back he wouldn't have been able to drive it in that position.
Couillard told the jury the driver's seat and rear-view mirror were set for a large person.
Holms testified he could barely reach the mirror or gear-shift when he sat in the SUV.
Liana White was described by those who knew her as "petite."
After the first day of proceedings finished, cameras caught up with some of Michael White's supporters.
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The man shown above [later identified as Michael White's stepfather] quipped, "You're innocent until proven guilty – isn't that what they say?"
The trial also saw the media re-emergence of Pastor Robert Scott of the Freedom Church of God.
Scott once wrote a letter to the Edmonton Sun advising the public to be wary of media reports and a police cover-up in Michael White's case.
Speaking to cameras Scott said, "No longer will the declaration of guilt or innocence of Michael White be determined by the populace or the media, but by the duly appointed authorities whom we respect and for whom we pray."
"We know that proof will prevail."
Scott's congregation also prayed for Michael Jackson when he faced child molestation charges in 2005. His church believed Jackson was innocent knowing that he was a Christian.
The church further believes homosexuality is a condition caused by drinking pasteurised milk.
The trial continued November 3rd, 2006