deadmonton - the trial of michael white - november 8th, 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.
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The trial continued with more testimony from Edmonton police forensic specialists.
Sgt. Randy Topp was inspecting the White home on July 17th, 2005 when he received a call that a body had been found on the northern outskirts of Edmonton.
Topp took a police video camera and headed to an area near Township Road 542 and Range Road 251. Upon arriving, he documented the scene.
Jurors were shown that video and while it only lasted a few minutes, it left a longer and stronger impression on at least one other person in the court room.
The video began with a 360-degree pan of the area. Included in the frame was Michael White's half-ton truck parked further down a country road.
White was in the area as part of his self-organised search effort (see note).
The lens focused on a portion of a ditch just over a metre from the road's edge. Insects could be seen flying around.
Underneath branches, leaves and loose brush appeared Liana White's body. Part of a bare and bloodied leg could be seen sticking out.
The jury didn't show much reaction to the video. They had seen still photographs of the 'recovery site' just the day before.
However, Michael White appeared riveted.
Peering at a monitor set up for his benefit in front of the prisoner's box, White leaned forward as the video played.
With his head in his hands, he occasionally wiped tears from his eyes.
At times he held his hand in front of his mouth as if in disbelief.
The next witness for the Crown was a DNA expert working out of a private lab in Ontario.
Stephen Denison told court of the results of numerous tests he performed on items found by Edmonton police detectives inside two garbage bags that White had set in front of his house.
Key to the Crown's case were a pair of latex gloves.
One of the gloves was in the front pocket of a blue pair of men's pants stained with Liana's blood while the other glove was inside a first-aid kit.
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Dension testified that blood found on the exterior of the gloves matched the DNA of Liana White.
Inside the gloves were fingertip skin cells that matched the DNA of Michael White.
Denison calculated the odds of a mismatch of either individual in the trillions.
When asked how Michael White's DNA could have gotten inside the gloves, Dennison said it was most likely to due to him wearing them.
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Denison also confirmed that pants, paper towels and a grey sock found in the garbage bags all contained samples of Liana White's DNA. Michael White's DNA was also found on the sock.
Liana's DNA was also found on a swab of blood taken from the couple's master bedroom.
Samples from the carpeted area in the back of the SUV proved less conclusive.
Either there was no blood in the Ford Explorer, or there was blood that was diluted with water, Denison said. "I can't with any scientific certainty say one way or the other."
With a nod to a once-held theory of motive, Denison said a liver sample from the fetus Liana White was carrying indicated the child was that of Michael White.
The DNA analyst pegged the certainty of White's paternity at 99.998%
The trial continued November 9th, 2006
Note:
On October 19th, 2006 Michael White's legal counsel advised the media that statements which appeared in earlier published reports, that a search party led by White found Liana White's body, were not accurate and that Michael White states that he did not lead the search team that found Liana's body.