deadmonton - the trial of michael white - november 22nd, 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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With the forensic evidence now finally dealt with, the trial focused on Liana White herself.
Court heard testimony from a co-worker and the news that Liana had a restraining order against a former boyfriend.
By the end of the day, jurors saw another video tape – this one showing Michael White being formally questioned by police.
Close friend and co-worker Nathalie Durie testified that Liana never any mentioned problems with her husband, adding the couple often spoke on the phone with each other while at work.
Durie described her friend as a bubbly woman who didn’t hide her emotions.
In July 2005, Durie said Liana was often tired when she joined her at a clerking job in the neonatal unit of the Royal Alexandra Hospital. She also sold Avon products.
Liana put it down to her pregnancy – then four months along – and told Nathalie it was a planned event the couple was happy about. They already had a three-year-old daughter named Ashley.
Durie said Liana was always careful and protective, making sure she locked doors and checking if the garage was closed properly.
In public, such as when walking down the street, Liana would grab Durie's hand if a stranger approached them.
Durie said she and Liana had taken their children to a farmer’s market in St. Albert on July 9th. They had made plans to go to a children’s teddy bear picnic on July 13th – the day after Michael White reported his wife missing.
The trial continued with testimonies from a trio of detectives assigned to White's case.
Court heard that police had investigated a second man in connection with the matter.
The annoucement came out when Det. Michael Campeau, the lead investigator handling the case, was on the stand answering defense questions.
Police first learned of a man named Steve through a Crimestoppers tip and later from Liana's mother, Maureen Kelly.
Steve was an old boyfriend of Liana's that she had served with a restraining order. Court heard the relationship was abusive.
The man, who lived in Kelowna, British Columbia, was investigated and dismissed as a suspect. The matter was handled by a fellow detective and Campeau admitted he never knew Steve's last name and wasn't aware of the restraining order.
Campeau said police felt "there was no other viable suspect" other than Michael White.
Homicide detective Brian Robertson testified he spent hours with Michael White prior to his being charged.
Robertson said White told him he had a few beers with a friend from work before getting home about 8 p.m. on July 11th.
He said he was lying in bed, half asleep, when Liana left for work the next morning.
Getting up about an hour later, he took daughter Ashley to day care, then headed to the automotive repair shop where he worked.
Police called White at work at 8:30 a.m. and told him his wife's Ford Explorer had been found abandoned.
White said he thought it was a prank being pulled by another mechanic. Realising it wasn't a joke, he rushed home.
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Robertson was seen behind White when he appealed through the media on July 13th for the public's help in finding his wife.
After viewing the security video taken from Richard's Pub, Robertson instructed police to keep White under round-the-clock surveillance.
Robertson testified that throughout their time together, White would ask him questions such as 'when he should go back to work?' and 'will police be searching the dump?'
At one point White asked Robertson if someone could have been hiding in the back of Liana's SUV when she left for work.
"How else could someone get her?" White asked. "You know, I always forget to lock the [garage] door."
On July 16th, Robertson issued a search warrant on the house at 227 Warwick Crescent, ordering White and his family to leave.
Referring to earlier testimony, Robertson told the jury he learned about Steve while talking with Liana's mother and said he filed a report which would have gone to Campeau.
Det. Ernie Schrieber then took the stand to introduce the first taped interview he had with Michael White.
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At the start of the video recorded July 12th – the day Liana was reported missing, White was seen breaking down and crying.
"I just want her found, that's it. I wanna know where she is. Where is she? I wanna know, for a person who never unlocks a frigging door, where is she?"
He said he was going through "the worst feeling ever" after being called at work and told his wife was missing and her SUV had been found abandoned
White then opened up to the detective and told him about his marriage, how he had met Liana in a bar after his six-and-a-half years of military life.
He said they had the usual problems with finances but otherwise it was "a normal relationship ... a good relationship." Throughout the interview White referred to Liana as "the wife."
"She'll get all mad when I'll be working to eight, nine, 10 at night. The wife, she never accepted it. But, you know, she lived with it."
White said Liana was having a difficult time with her second pregnancy and he promised to come home earlier when he could.
"She was – she is – pregnant, four months," White told Schreiber.
He said the couple struggled with money and were planning a move to Ontario to take over his father's farm.
"I want to work hard, get a good paycheque, buy things," White said. "She wants it, the money, the bigger paycheques."
"She makes people around her better," said White. "She's just a good-hearted person, bends backwards for anybody, strangers, anybody."
The trial continued November 23rd, 2006