8-year-old, Victoria Stafford, missing in Canada *deceased*

[Whisper]

Getting pissed off,
they have been having pretrial for 2 weeks now and not 1 freaking pic or update other then the day it started the hearings

[Whisper]

Stafford jury to visit site where body found

LONDON, Ont. — The jury in the trial of a man accused of killing eight-year-old Victoria Stafford will visit the place where her body was found.

The judge hearing pre-trial motions in the case released the decision in court Friday.

Michael Rafferty, 30, is charged with first-degree murder in the 2009 death of the Woodstock, Ont., girl.

Jury selection begins Feb. 27.

Stafford disappeared while on her way home from school in April 2009 and her body was found months later.

Rafferty's trial was moved from Woodstock to nearby London in light of publicity surrounding the girl's death.

Pre-trial motions in the case are covered by an extensive publication ban.
[...]

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...TorontoNewHome

[Whisper]

I know I have posted this pic awhile ago but I love this one of the FAT FUCKING PUKE
Maybe was good looking at one time but I guess jail doesnt agree with him,,
oh thats right didnt he claim he was cold and they picked on him??
Betcha Tori felt picked on while she was raped and had her head busted by a hammer

Conservative Senator: “Every murderer should have a rope in his cell”

http://occupy-ottawa.org/2012/02/01/...e-in-his-cell/


Getting close to trial and Im getting all giddy

[Whisper]

Michael Rafferty to sit in prisoner's dock

TORONTO - A man charged in the murder of eight-year-old Victoria "Tori" Stafford will sit in the prisoner's dock during his criminal trial, an Ontario judge has ruled.
Defence lawyers for Michael Rafferty had wanted their client to sit at the defence counsels' table during the upcoming two-and-a-half month long trial.
But Ontario Justice Thomas Heeney rejected the proposal in a decision released Friday, ruling this special request could not be granted due to the "high level of security" required during the trial. The proposal was made during four weeks of pre-trial motions this month.
Rafferty, 31, is charged with first-degree murder, sexual assault and kidnapping.
[...]
The now 21-year-old, also from Woodstock, is currently serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years after she admitted to randomly choosing Stafford and lured her with the promise of seeing a puppy.
Her official cause of death was never released, but an autopsy revealed in court indicated the girl died from multiple blunt force impacts on the same day she went missing.
Jury selection for the Rafferty trial will begin Feb. 27 in London, Ont.

http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailyn...tml?id=6170783

[Whisper]

jury selection begins monday

[Whisper]

less then 24 hours

[Whisper]

Jury selection in Tori Stafford trial begins This is tomorrows paper

Nearly three years have passed since the frantic search for a missing 8-year-old girl ended in murder charges and the discovery of her remains in a patch of Southwestern Ontario woodland.

Now, in downtown London, jury selection begins Monday in the trial of the second person accused in her killing.

A young woman is already serving life imprisonment in the death of Victoria (Tori) Stafford, and will be the key witness at the trial of her former partner, Michael Thomas Rafferty.
A self-described contractor at the time of his arrest, Mr. Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, sexual assault and kidnapping.

The trial before Mr. Justice Thomas Heeney of Ontario Superior Court is expected to last at least two months, and much of the evidence is likely to be horrifying.

Heading the prosecution team is Woodstock Crown attorney Brian Crockett, while Mr. Rafferty’s defence is led by Toronto lawyer Dirk Derstine.
[...]
Dental records swiftly established it was her, and the cause of death was multiple blows from a blunt instrument, a post-mortem showed. Prosecutors concluded she had been both sexually assaulted and killed at the spot where she was found.
[..]
Fifteen months later, it will be Mr. Rafferty in the prisoner’s box when his trial finally gets under way on the 14th floor of the London courthouse, after weeks of pre-trial motions.

And what his ex-partner plans to say in her testimony remains entirely unclear.

Jury selection is likely to take up much of this week, with the Crown’s opening address anticipated next Monday.

After that, one of the first tasks of the jury will be a visit to the lonely spot in Arthur Township, southeast of Mount Forest, where Det.-Sgt. Smyth made his dreadful discovery.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ontent=2350522

[Whisper]

I actually have butterflys in my stomach with this finally starting,Im afraid to hear what they did to her

[Whisper]

Jury selection begins in Tori Stafford murder trial

LONDON, Ont. — Potential jurors in the trial of a man accused of killing an eight-year-old girl are being screened today in London, Ont., for a trial that could last into June.
[...]

The first group of 119 people called for jury duty appeared before Superior Court Judge Thomas Heeney this morning and 85 people were excused for various reasons such as financial hardship or medical issues.

Thirty-four people have been asked to return on Wednesday for the next stage of jury selection in which lawyers will ask them questions, and more juror screening continues this afternoon and tomorrow.

A total of 1,375 people have been summoned for jury duty this week and next, and they could end up serving on the Rafferty trial or any other criminal or civil jury trial starting during that period.
[....]

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/201...#ixzz1ncYfRyew

[Whisper]

Judge addresses potential jurors at Tori Stafford murder trial

LONDON, Ont. — Lawyers in the high-profile first-degree murder trial of Michael Rafferty, accused in the 2009 slaying of young Victoria (Tori) Stafford, will hand-pick a 12-person jury from a pool of more than 100 eligible candidates.
A group of 116 people from London and surrounding area was chosen out of 447 potential candidates, following two days of jury screening that began Monday.
[...]
On Tuesday, Ontario Justice Thomas Heeney told potential jurors that if chosen, they would be playing a "vital role" in the administration of justice.
"It is an important task to serve as a juror," he said. "It is both a privilege and responsibility."

Heeney also warned the group that they would endure hardship and inconvenience during the trial, which was expected to last as long as June.
Yet it would be a "challenging, rewarding experience that you'll never forget," he concluded.
He also cautioned them from reading, watching or listening to any media reports on the case until this process was over.
As the day went on, Heeney personally questioned each potential juror one by one.
He asked them whether sitting for the trial would cause them emotional, physical or financial hardship, if they knew anyone involved in the case and if they were willing to make the time commitment.
The majority of the group were excused for prior vacation commitments, financial reasons and health problems.
Three women were dismissed for consideration because they were police employees. Two others told Heeney they were molested as children and couldn't be impartial during the trial.
One woman said she knew Stafford's mother, Tara McDonald.
Another woman expressed concern about the emotional toll the case might take because she was personally connected to another high-profile case. The woman was related to Jessica Lloyd, a young woman who was sexually assaulted and murdered by former colonel Russell Williams in Ontario in 2010.One man told the court he had played basketball 15 years ago with one of the Crown attorneys on the case, and was also quickly excused.
Another man told the judge he couldn't serve on the jury because he had 300 animals to care for.
A number of those questioned told the judge they had young children and that it coloured their judgment.
"I don't know if I can go through this whole process and not feel this man is vicious," a woman with four young grandchildren told Heeney.
Chosen jurors will be paid $40 each day for the first 25 days and then $100 each day thereafter. The rate was increased due to the longevity and nature of the trial.
Rafferty was present at the proceedings.
None of Stafford's family members was present in the courtroom Tuesday.
[...]

http://www.canada.com/news/Judge+add...#ixzz1njgbClaG

[Whisper]

Accused in Tori Stafford slaying pleads not guilty
Jury selection continues; trial expected to start Monday

[B]Seven people were chosen Wednesday to serve on a jury in the trial of a man accused in the death of eight-year-old Victoria Stafford.

Michael Rafferty, 31, was formally arraigned Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping.
[/B]Dressed in a three-piece suit, Rafferty stood looking out at the jury pool and said he was ready for his trial.

"That is correct," he said as his pleas were read back to him.
[...]
Five women and two men have been selected so far as lawyers seek to choose a jury of 12 people and two alternates.

Hundreds of people were called for jury selection in Rafferty's trial, and all but 116 were excused Monday and Tuesday for various financial, medical and travel reasons. The remaining 116 were organized into five groups, with two groups facing the second stage of jury selection Wednesday. The last three groups return Thursday.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Heeney explained to the assembled potential jurors Wednesday morning that they would each be asked a series of pre-determined questions.

Trial expected to start Monday

Crown and defence lawyers get a set number of challenges, which they can use to reject a potential juror without giving a reason.

The trial is expected to start Monday if all jurors and alternates can be selected this week.

Potential jurors have been told the trial is expected to last between 2½ and three months, possibly extending into June.

Most weeks the trial will sit Tuesdays to Fridays. Because of the time commitment and the nature of the case, Heeney raised the amount of compensation jurors will get.

In most trials in Ontario jurors are paid $40 a day if they sit longer than 10 days, and from the 50th day onward they get $100 a day.

For this trial jurors will receive $40 a day from the outset, rising to $100 a day starting on the 25th day.
[...]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...-rafferty.html

[cubby]

Canada pays jurors alot more than the US. ALOT more!

[Whisper]

l

Nine women and three men will begin considering Monday the fate of the man charged with killing an eight-year-old Woodstock girl, whose disappearance three years ago captivated the nation.

Jury selection for the trial of Michael Thomas Rafferty, 31, wrapped up Thursday in London.

He pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping in the April 2009 disappearance and death of Victoria (Tori) Stafford.

The jurors face a trial that could last up to three months and reveal disturbing details about Tori's final hours.

"Get some rest. You are going to be busy over the next 21/2 months or so," Superior Court Justice Thomas Heeney told the 12-member jury and two alternates Thursday.

Heeney offered jurors the traditional warnings from the court: to avoid discussing the case with anyone besides fellow jury members and only then in the jury room; to avoid any media reports about the case and to avoid doing their own investigating.

"Everything you need to know about this case will be brought to you in this courtroom," Heeney said.

Rafferty's lawyer Dirk Derstine told reporters outside court he and his client are ready to begin.

"Everyone is anxious to move forward," he said. "We'll all just have to sit down, button up and see what happens during the course of the trial. I very much expect that there will be things none of us can foresee during the course of the trial."

Derstine has stressed to reporters several times the public does not know the full story of the case.

"The allegations in this case are horrible. It's very important everybody keep an open mind and not rush to judgment. Many different people can form various scenarios in their minds about what may have happened or what could have happened. What's important is that they listen to what happens in the courtroom."

It took four days to narrow a pool of more than 400 to the 12 jurors and two alternates, who will serve only if one of the 12 cannot start Monday.

Lawyers can never know for sure how well their choices for a jury will work out, Derstine said.

But he added about the people chosen, "They look like a bunch of good honest citizens, ready to do their duty."

Heeney will provide further instructions to the jury Monday. Opening arguments, then the beginning of evidence, will follow.
[...]

[Whisper]

On Wednesday, Michael Rafferty, 31, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping. Rafferty is charged in the death of Tori Stafford.

LONDON, Ont. — Eleven people have been selected so far to serve as jurors in the trial of an Ontario man accused in the killing of eight-year-old Victoria (Tori) Stafford in 2009.

The eight women and three men were sworn in Wednesday and Thursday after passing two screening stages, which began earlier this week.

The court needs to choose one more juror and two alternates to fill out the 12-person jury.
If it is able to do that with the remaining pool of 20 jurors to be screened Thursday afternoon, the Crown will deliver its opening statements on Monday as anticipated.
[...]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03...-to-be-picked/

[Whisper]

Disturbing evidence expected in Stafford trial

LONDON, Ont. - A jury in southwestern Ontario was warned Monday they will hear and see evidence in the Victoria Stafford case that many would find "graphic and disturbing."
[...]
Michael Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping in the death of the Grade 3 student.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Heeney gave his instructions to the jury Monday, telling the nine women and three men there will be evidence presented "that many people would consider to be graphic and disturbing."
The Crown is expected to lay out its case against Rafferty in an opening statement Monday afternoon.
After the morning break, media and spectators were asked to clear the courtroom. Court was to resume at 1:30 p.m. with an in-camera hearing — meaning only lawyers and the judge will be present.
Rafferty, wearing a grey suit and a blue-striped tie, sat quietly during the instructions.
Family members, including Tori's father Rodney and her grandmother Doreen Graichen, were in the courtroom.
Terri-Lynne McClintic, 21, has already been convicted of first-degree murder in the girl's death.
[...]
Rafferty's lawyer Dirk Derstine says the allegations are horrible, but he is urging everyone to keep an open mind until all the evidence is heard. Jurors have been told the trial is expected to last between 2 1/2 and three months, possibly extending into June.
Tori's disappearance and death garnered a lot of media attention from coast to coast, so potential jurors were asked a series of questions about if they had heard about the case in the media, if they had formed any opinion about Rafferty's guilt or innocence and if they thought they could be unbiased, judging the case only on the evidence.
A pre-trial motion was heard before jury selection dealing with where Rafferty would sit during the trial. Accused people are sometimes allowed to sit at the counsel table with their lawyers instead of in the dock, which is traditionally where they sit.
The court decided that due to evidence from an officer in charge of court security that "the nature and history of this case requires a high level of security," and other factors, Rafferty would sit in the dock.

http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/distur...stafford-trial

[Whisper]

Accused Michael Rafferty is shown in court in London, Ont., Monday, March 5, 2012 in this artist's sketch. The trial of Rafferty, 31, began Monday nearly three years after Victoria Stafford disappeared

LONDON, Ont. - The horrifying alleged story of eight-year-old Victoria Stafford's last hours, after she was snatched outside her school and before her body was left under a pile of rocks far from home, was laid out in an Ontario court Monday.
Tori was abducted by Michael Rafferty and Terri-Lynne McClintic, sexually assaulted and brutally beaten to death on April 8, 2009, Crown Attorney Kevin Gowdey told the jury on the first day of Rafferty's trial
[...]
The jury was warned that over the course of the trial, expected to last 2 1/2 months, they will hear graphic and disturbing evidence. A pathologist will testify that Tori died from multiple blows to her head with a hammer. Blunt impacts to her body also lacerated her liver and fractured her ribs, Gowdey said. Her remains, not discovered for 103 days, were found naked from the waist down, clothed only in a Hannah Montana T-shirt.
He told the jury it's not their job to determine who wielded the hammer, but to decide whether Rafferty and McClintic "acted together."
"In the end it is not necessary or essential that you determine exactly who did what, for example which of the two delivered the hammer blows to the skull or who inflicted the trauma to Tori's body that lacerated her liver, broke her ribs," Gowdey said.
Rafferty, wearing a grey suit and a blue-striped tie, sat expressionless as he listened to the Crown describe the alleged events of the day Tori went missing.
McClintic herself will be testifying soon, Gowdey said, about what led up to the kidnapping, what happened that day and how the pair tried to cover their tracks.
"When you have heard her evidence you will unquestionably be disturbed by the choices that she made with Michael Rafferty to bring this all about," Gowdey said. "I expect that her credibility will be a major issue in this case. It is because she had such a significant role in what happened that she's able to give us so much detail. Listen to her evidence carefully and cautiously."
Superior Court Judge Thomas Heeney gave his instructions to the jury Monday morning, telling the nine women and three men there will be evidence presented "that many people would consider to be graphic and disturbing."
He also cautioned them that the Crown's opening statement should not be taken as evidence.
Outside court earlier Monday, her father Rodney Stafford said it's hard or him to be in the same room as the man accused of killing his daughter, and he hopes Tori's name will be remembered more than the man in the prisoner's dock.
"It's not about Rafferty, it's about the little girl who lost her life," he said, carefully choosing his words because the trial is underway.
"It's heartbreaking because there's nothing you can do or say without ruining the potential, what's going to come of this ... It's ridiculous."
Rodney Stafford, his girlfriend, his mother and his brother were in court Monday. Tori's mother, Tara McDonald, will be called to testify, Gowdey said. She was at the courthouse Monday but not in the courtroom, as witnesses are not allowed to attend a trial before they testify.
After the morning break, media and spectators were asked to clear the courtroom. Court was resumed at 1:30 p.m. with an in-camera hearing, meaning only lawyers and the judge were present. The Crown's opening statement began after that hearing.
Rodney Stafford said it's been a struggle for the family to cope with their loss.
"Up, down, all over the place. It's hard to explain," Stafford said outside court. "You can't even put it into words because from one minute to another you're all over the place. One song could change your total demeanour from being positive to a ... whimpering fool. It's not like I want to be like this."
[...]

http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/crown-...stafford-trial

[Whisper]

Tori Stafford murder trial: Blows from hammer caused massive injuries, Crown says

LONDON, ONT.—When little Tori Stafford’s body was found, she was naked from the waist down, had multiple fractured ribs and a lacerated liver, injuries that came before repeated blows to her head with a hammer, the Crown alleged in opening statements for one of the most anticipated trials of the year.
“On whole, the injuries were fatal,” Kevin Gowdey, the assistant Crown, told jurors as he laid out the case against Michael Rafferty on Monday afternoon.
“The pathologist will describe that a hammer caused massive injuries,” he said.
Tori was only wearing the Hannah Montana t-shirt and her mother’s butterfly earrings she has borrowed the morning she was abducted and then killed, said Gowdey.
In the opening address that lasted about 90 minutes, Gowdey outlined disturbing details of the Woodstock girl’s last day and he warned jurors that it will be a tough trial, hard on everyone. The evidence will be “graphic and unsettling” at times, he said.
[...]
The assistant Crown outlined the events of that day: how McClintic lured Tori to Rafferty’s Honda Civic, how Rafferty then bought Percocet pills, how they then took Tori to Guelph where McClintic bought garbage bags and a hammer at a Home Depot. The last stop in Tori’s life was in a secluded rural area near Mount Forest, he alleged.
[...]
(Police have never found Tori’s backpack, her other clothes or the hammer that was used to bludgeon her, said Gowdey.)
He said the Crown will also present evidence how Rafferty and McClintic tried to cover their tracks.
Gowdey also explained how investigators zeroed in on the two, how McClintic initially denied any involvement but then agreed she was the woman with Tori in the surveillance video taken from near the school. She gave details of the kidnapping and talked about the tactics used to lure Tori, said Gowdey.
The Crown spent a few minutes talking about DNA evidence procured from Rafferty’s car and a Goodlife fitness bag in his car and how it linked him to Tori.
Jurors heard how Rafferty was addicted to his BlackBerry and the smartphone also helps determine where he was on April 8 2009, said Gowdey.
Technology helped trace Rafferty’s movements, he said, adding that in the days after Tori was abducted, Rafferty went to a Bell Store and tried to get his BlackBerry replaced.
“Pay close attention to what the two did,” Gowdey told the jurors. “It is important to look at what they did together and what they did individually.”
As the Crown made the case to the jury, Tori’s family was only a few feet away. Her father, Rodney Stafford, was accompanied by his girlfriend Petrina Fraser, mother Doreen Graichen and brother Rob. They all wore purple ribbons — purple was Tori’s favourite colour.
Before the opening statements, Rodney Stafford said he has faith in the jury that will decide the fate of the man accused of killing his daughter.
[...]
Tori‘s mother, Tara McDonald, was also at the courthouse.
Outside the courthouse, Rafferty’s lawyer Dirk Derstine said the allegations were “shocking and horrifying” but just pieces of the picture. People should withhold judgment until the end, he said.
Five witnesses, including Tori’s teacher from Oliver Stephens School in Woodstock will testify on Tuesday.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/a...-rafferty?bn=1

[Whisper]

Doreen Graichen, left, and Randi Millen, Victoria (Tori) Stafford's grandmother and aunt, tie a new bouquet of flowers with a photo of Tori to a pole at Millen's home in Woodstock, Ont

[Deja]

@Whisper, Tori's family finally has their day in court, and it's gonna be painful, for months - sounds like the details will be gruesome. With this asshole's partner in crime already in prison for confessing what they BOTH did, and other evidence connecting him to the murder, I don't think he has a chance in hell (a place in hell, yes). I really think they should have seated more alternates, though...they're planning on a long trial, and if more than 2 jurors have to leave for some reason, it could be a mistrial (isn't that how it works?)

Are you planning on going to the trial at some point?

[Whisper]

@Whisper, Tori's family finally has their day in court, and it's gonna be painful, for months - sounds like the details will be gruesome. With this asshole's partner in crime already in prison for confessing what they BOTH did, and other evidence connecting him to the murder, I don't think he has a chance in hell (a place in hell, yes). I really think they should have seated more alternates, though...they're planning on a long trial, and if more than 2 jurors have to leave for some reason, it could be a mistrial (isn't that how it works?)

Are you planning on going to the trial at some point?

It is going to be a long one,until June
Im not sure how that works with alternates
And I do plan on going up at least 1 or 2xs
Going to find out how it works first
Im not sure if they use a lottery system for these packed trials
The details are gruesome in my heart i knew she was assaulted but my head wouldnt allow it to sink in until today I saw in print and bawled,they raped and bashed her with hammer,dirty fuckers ,theres nothing bad enough that could happen to them

[Whisper]

Tori Stafford's teacher recalls 'lovely little girl'

Victoria (Tori) Stafford’s teacher fought back tears as she told a jury Tuesday about the last time she saw her former Grade 3 student alive.
Jennifer Griffin-Murrell said Stafford was “just a lovely little girl,” who was happy and attentive on the last day she went to Oliver Stephens Public School in Woodstock, Ont.
The teacher told the London, Ont., court that she remembers her final conversation with Stafford, telling her student that she would “see her tomorrow.”
riffin-Murrell said that Stafford ran back to her desk to retrieve her butterfly earrings before leaving school for the day.
But Stafford was not wearing them when she left the school on April 8, 2009, the teacher said.
That was the day that the eight-year-old Stafford disappeared. A provincial police officer later found her remains at a location near Mount Forest, Ont.
After Griffin-Murrell finished her testimony, the Crown called provincial police Det. Const. Robin Brocanier to the witness box.
Brocanier was the officer who oversaw the effort to obtain video surveillance in the aftermath of Stafford’s disappearance nearly three years ago.
Crown case begins with details of Stafford’s disappearance
Michael Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and abduction.
In his opening remarks Monday, Crown prosecutor Kevin Gowdey said he would present several "chapters" over the course of the trial, which is expected to last several months. The first will involve events in and around Oliver Stephens Public School.
[..]
The jury was told Monday that Terri-Lynne McClintic, who pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Tori in 2010, would testify in another "chapter."
[..]
Jury will hear from pathologist
[...]

http://news.ca.msn.com/canada/tori-s...-little-girl-1

[Whisper]

[..]
Shortly after Ms. Griffin-Murrell saw Tori off, another parent, Laura Perry saw her walking away with a woman in a white coat, who immediately gave her a funny feeling. That woman was Terri-Lynne McClintic, Ms. Rafferty's then-girlfriend, who is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder in the case.

Ms. Perry, whose then-7-year-old son Jacob was a classmate of Tori's, testified Tuesday. She was at Oliver Stephens that afternoon to pick up Jacob and his older brother Zachary. As she waited down the street from the school for her sons, she saw Tori walking towards her. The woman accompanying the child, she said, was a stranger.

“She was different, that's why I noticed her,” Ms. Perry said. “She was walking very fast, they were moving with a purpose.”

Ms. Perry said she didn't see the pair speaking, just the woman walking quickly and Tori keeping up behind her. Ms. Perry would later help police prepare a composite sketch of the woman who turned out to be Ms. McClintic.

A now-famous video of that moment, captured on a security camera at Colleage Avenue Secondary School, was played in court. It shows Ms. McClintic and Tori walking past Ms. Perry, shortly before Ms. Perry's own children arrive.

Earlier, Ms. Griffin-Murrell tearfully recounted that final day at school, describing her pupil as “happy-go-lucky,” and academically-successful, with a penchant for helping her classmates.

“She was a caring girl, very sensitive,” the teacher recalled. “She was stronger at academics in regards to some of the others...she always wanted to help them.”

She said Tori was inquisitive, interested in drama and art, and had a bubbly personality.

“She had a little spunk, which is always a favourite thing of mine,” she said.

Tori’s day at school was routine enough: a lesson in persuasive writing, time in the computer lab to research plants and a math period. At recess, she got her clothes wet by splashing in a puddle with a friend; in art class, she amused students by trying to cut decals off her shirt. Both incidents resulted in chats with the teacher but, Ms. Griffin-Murrell said, Tori showed no discouragement.

Just days later, the teacher was asked to identify Tori in the surveillance video. As it played in court, to a muted gasp, the teacher choked up.

“That’s Tori and the girl who did it,” she said.

The jury also heard testimony Tuesday from Robin Brocanier, an Ontario Provincial Police officer who led a team that analyzed security video from the area.

Detective Constable Brocanier said he traced the movement of Tori and Ms. McClintic as they walked up the street outside the school, shortly after 3:30 p.m. and appeared to walk towards the parking lot of Caressant Care retirement home across the street. Then, he told the jury, he looked at footage from the camera several minutes earlier and saw a dark car turning into the parking lot.

Using a series of videos, he established that the car appeared to have stopped in at a nearby Esso station just minutes earlier. Then, it appeared at the retirement home. Just two minutes later, the woman in the white coat and Tori appear to approach the lot where the car was parked and, a few seconds after that, it pulled away. If Detective Constable Brocanier is correct, Tori's abduction took less than three minutes.

Tori’s family attended court again, with her father Rodney dressed in a purple shirt and handing out ribbons in the same colour, his daughter’s favourite. During a break, he said he was pleased with the methodical proceedings so far, as details were slowly revealed.

He had kind words for Ms. Griffin-Murrell.

“[She was] very heartfelt. The way she described Victoria is a way I couldn’t, because she saw Victoria on a daily basis and I didn’t,” he said. “She described Victoria to a T.”

He also called on reporters not to focus too intently on Mr. Rafferty, saying that he wanted to keep public attention on his daughter.

“This is about Tori,” he said. “I’m always doing this because I want to keep Tori out there, because the nation has to protect our children.”

Earlier in the day, Mr. Justice Thomas Heeney explained the cause of a delay in proceedings Monday. That morning, the court received information that someone purporting to be a relative of one of the jurors in the case had written on Facebook that the juror had made disparaging comments about Mr. Rafferty.

Behind closed doors, judge and lawyers showed every juror a photo of the person on Facebook and asked if any of them knew the person. No one on the jury did and it turned out the person was actually a relative of someone who was called for jury duty but not chosen.

The trial continues Wednesday when Tara McDonald, Tori's mother, is expected to testify .

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ontent=2360263

[Whisper]

Noon break
Tori Stafford investigator describes exhaustive probe

Investigators collected more than 1,100 physical items and took thousands of photos while investigating the disappearance and death of Victoria (Tori) Stafford, a provincial police officer told a London, Ont., court on Wednesday morning.

The Crown called Const. Gary Scoyne to testify Wednesday at the trial of the man accused of killing Tori, a Grade 3 student who was found dead months after she disappeared from her Woodstock, Ont., school in April 2009.
[...]
On Wednesday, Scoyne told the court that police catalogued 1,100 physical items collected during the course of their investigation and took 4,500 photos.
He said the scale of the case was “enormous” and involved more than 900 police officers.

Scoyne was responsible for exhibit management during the Stafford investigation.

He also attended the post-mortem investigation after Tori’s remains were found at a location near Mount Forest, Ont., three months after she went missing.

While Scoyne was in court, the jurors were shown 52 ground-view photos of the area where Tori disappeared from in Woodstock.

They also saw photographs of the area around College Avenue Secondary School, the local high school where security cameras captured video of Tori and a woman walking on the day she disappeared.
Scoyne said Tori’s mother lived in a house that was located just one-and-a-half blocks from that high school.

Under cross-examination, Scoyne was asked if he had personally walked around Woodstock. The OPP officer responded that he had not, though he had driven through as part of the investigation.

Scoyne was the last witness called before the court took a lunch break on Wednesday afternoon.

The Crown told the court that Scoyne will be called to testify on several occasions during the trial, which is likely to last several months.

Scoyne is the fourth witness called by the Crown, following testimony from Tori’s teacher, a parent who saw the girl walking away from school on the day she disappeared, and a police officer who oversaw efforts to obtain surveillance video in the subsequent investigation.
[...]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...wednesday.html

OPP Const. Gary Scoyne said police catalogued more than 1,100 physical items and took 4,500 photos during their investigation into the disappearance and death of Victoria (Tori) Stafford.

[Whisper]

Tori Stafford’s mother tells court she met daughter’s killer a month before murder

Tori Stafford's mother Tara McDonald, left, returns to court after a break on the third day of the trial of Michael Rafferty, the accused in her daughter's murder. McDonald testified Wednesday that she first met Terri-Lynne McClintic, who has pleaded guilty to killing Tori, in January or February 2009.

LONDON, Ont. — The mother of Victoria Stafford told an Ontario court Wednesday she had previously met the woman who pleaded guilty to killing her eight-year-old daughter.

Tara McDonald testified at the first-degree murder trial of Michael Rafferty that she went to Terri-Lynne McClintic’s house on two occasions — once to buy oxycontin from McClintic’s mother, Carol, and the second time to discuss the possibility of breeding their dogs.
[...]
McDonald said she first met McClintic in January or February 2009, about a month before the then-18-year-old lured Stafford away from her Woodstock, Ont., school on April 8, 2009.

The breeding agreement fell through and McClintic had called her house “upset,” she told the court.

She couldn’t recall if her daughter had been home when she discussed breeding the two dogs, Cosmo and Precious.

McDonald said McClintic and Stafford had never met.

McDonald also said that she and her partner, James Goris, were both struggling with an Oxycontin addiction when her daughter went missing. She had taken a pill on the day Stafford disappeared.

She testified that days after she saw a surveillance video of her murdered daughter with an unidentified woman she received information that identified the woman as McClintic.
“He said that was Terri-Lynne McClintic in the video. He was positive of it,” testified McDonald — who was composed earlier in the afternoon proceedings but began to break down as she talked about Stafford’s favourite things: art, dogs, lip gloss and her brother.

McDonald told the court she first thought her daughter was just out playing when she did not come home from school on April 8, 2009.

During cross-examination, she told the defence lawyer that her daughter would’ve never went willingly with someone she didn’t know. She had previously done an art project about not talking to strangers, says McDonald.
[...]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03...s-court-hears/

Michael Rafferty listens to testimony in London, Ontario court on Wednesday, March 7, 2012 during his murder trial for the alleged killing of Victoria (Tori) Stafford

.

[Whisper]

Tori Stafford's father Rodney Stafford arrives at the courthouse in London Ontario, Wednesday. On Tuesday, Stafford said his family is there to keep the spotlight on his daughter. “This is about Tori,” he said. “It’s about my little girl."
.

[Whisper]

Detective chokes up on the stand at Stafford trial

LONDON, Ont. — A police detective testifying at the trial of the man accused of murdering Victoria (Tori) Stafford began to choke up Thursday when he told the court about when the cased shifted from a child abduction investigation to a murder probe.
"Even to this day, it had . . . a very big impact," Woodstock police Det.-Const. Sean Kelly said at the trial of Michael Rafferty.
[...]
Kelly also told the court he was involved in the Stafford investigation from Day 1, and that police first searched Stafford's house when she was reported missing at 6:04 p.m. on April 8. He said the home was searched first because sometimes the family reports a child missing, when in fact the child is actually sleeping in the house.
The Woodstock detective also told the court in the early days of the investigation he went to McClintic's house to arrest her for an unrelated warrant.
At her home, Kelly told the court, he told her he wanted to talk to her about the Stafford case.
[...]

http://www.canada.com/news/Detective...#ixzz1oY3NK0Oe

Pretty good video at link

[Whisper]

Tori Stafford died from repeated hammer blows to the head, court hears
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03...ause-of-death/

[Bohring]

Thanks for being so on top of this @Whisper.

Hearing about repeated blows to that baby's head = me calling Caden's daycare to see how he's doing.

[Whisper]

Thanks for being so on top of this @Whisper.

Hearing about repeated blows to that baby's head = me calling Caden's daycare to see how he's doing.

Yw its right by me but Im consumed by it,I have Gbaby today and took him to park after posting that earlier

[Whisper]

This afternoons news
Tori Stafford's mom pointed police to McClintic

A police officer testified Thursday at the trial of Michael Rafferty that Victoria (Tori) Stafford’s mother recognized the woman — who later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder — spotted walking with her daughter on the day she disappeared.
[..]
Det. Const. Sean Kelly told the court Thursday that from the start of the investigation he was in daily contact with Tori’s family, including her mother, Tara McDonald.
The day after Tori went missing, police released a surveillance video that was captured by cameras at a nearby high school.
The video showed Tori walking in the company of a young woman who was wearing a white jacket on the day she disappeared.
Kelly said that McDonald notified police on April 12 that she believed the woman in the video was Terri-Lynne McClintic.
[...]
Kelly said McDonald recognized the jacket McClintic was wearing and the way she walked.
Following up on the tip from Tori’s mother, Kelly said police found that McClintic had an outstanding warrant for breach of a probation order.
Kelly said McClintic was subsequently arrested on her outstanding warrant.
[..]
McClintic’s resumé listed babysitting work
Kelly interviewed McClintic after her arrest and asked her activities and whereabouts on the day Tori disappeared.
McClintic then told police that she had visited an employment centre at 2:19 p.m. that afternoon.
A copy of McClintic’s resumé was shown to the court.
It listed prior work experience as an industrial cleaner, a kitchen assistant, customer service at a Tim Hortons restaurant in Parry Sound, Ont., and work as a babysitter.
Under the education section of her resumé, McClintic indicated she was preparing to write her GED (General Educational Development) test.
McClintic writes on form that she's prone to anger
The court was also shown a form that McClintic filled out at the employment centre, in which she checked “I tend to become angry easily,” but also wrote that she had been able “to maintain control over substances.”
McClintic had also sent a Facebook message to a friend earlier that afternoon, suggesting that they meet up for drinks at some point. The message was sent at 1:21 p.m.
She had also written on Facebook about being unemployed and living in Woodstock.
[...]
In court on Thursday, Kelly became choked up when he described the moment that police learned they were not going to find Tori alive.
[..]
He said that “overwhelmed” police officers in Woodstock worked 16 to 20 hours each day when they first began looking for Tori.
“We did the best we could,” he said.
The Ontario Provincial Police were called in about a week after Tori went missing, to help with the case.
Kelly was the seventh person that the Crown called to testify in the trial and the last to do so this week.
The trial will continue next week.
Outside court, Tori’s dad, Rodney Stafford, was asked what he thought when he saw the officer fighting his emotions in court on Thursday.
“It hurt,” replied Stafford, who said the officers have been under the strain of the investigation into his daughter’s disappearance and death for nearly three years.
“These guys are human, too,” he said. “It’s affected a lot of these officers in ways that people couldn’t imagine.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...ial-thurs.html

Detective chokes up as he recalls the moment he learned Tori Stafford was dead

Left: Tori Stafford showing off a bear she made at the West Edmonton Mall while visiting her aunt in Alberta. Right: Police during the search for Tori Stafford's body.

LONDON, Ont. — A police detective who arrested the woman who later confessed to killing eight-year-old Victoria (Tori) Stafford broke down in an Ontario court Thursday as he recounted the moment he learned she was dead.

“The investigation went from an abduction investigation to a homicide investigation. It was quite significant,” said Woodstock police Det.-Const. Sean Kelly at the trial of Michael Rafferty.

“Even to this day, it had a pretty big impact.”

Rafferty, 31, is being tried for kidnapping, sexual assault causing bodily harm and first-degree murder in Stafford’s death. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.[....]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03...investigation/

Christie Blatchford: Not even Tori Stafford’s mother spared by defence at murder trial

Tara McDonald is the mother of Tori Stafford, the eight-year-old Woodstock, Ont., girl who disappeared on her way home from school on April 8, 2009, and whose partially naked remains weren’t found for 103 days.

Michael Rafferty is the blocky 31-year-old man accused of first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault in the little girl’s slaying. He is pleading not guilty; his trial here began Monday.

Dirk Derstine is Mr. Rafferty’s lawyer.

These people intersected in Ontario Superior Court Wednesday at Mr. Rafferty’s trial in what can only be described as a telling, and less than flattering, illustration of the state of defence lawyering in Canada, circa 2012.

Consider the following exchange.
Mr. Derstine: “How long would it take you to walk to the school?”

Ms. McDonald: “Maybe five minutes.”

Mr. Derstine: “But you just stayed home and waited [for Tori to arrive]?”

Ms. McDonald: “Yes.”

Or consider this one.
Mr. Derstine: “Your son is older?”

Ms. McDonald: “Yes.”

Mr. Destine: “He usually walked with her to keep Tori company? To protect her?”

Ms. McDonald: “Yes.”

Mr. Derstine: “Did you assume he’d walk home with her [on the day she went missing]?”

Ms. McDonald: “Yes.”

Mr. Derstine: “Did you tell him to?”

Ms. McDonald: “Yes.”

Mr. Derstine: “Did you tell Tori to wait for her brother?”

Ms. McDonald: “We didn’t discuss it.”

Or how about this one, edited for length a little.

Mr. Derstine: “Would you agree your new home was a lot further away than your previous one?”
Mr. Derstine: “In fact, from your former home, you could see them [the kids] walking to school? You could throw a snowball from the front of that house and it would land on [school] grounds?”

Ms. McDonald: “Yes.”

Mr. Derstine, pointing to a photograph of the area: “And you say the new house was only two blocks away [from the school]?”

Ms. McDonald: “It looks a lot longer on that board.”

Mr. Destine, tracing the route on the photo board: “Wouldn’t you agree it’s about a kilometre?”

Ms. McDonald: “Yep.”

And finally, this one.

Mr. Derstine: “Whose idea was it that she [Tori] would walk home?”

Ms. McDonald: “Mine.”
And the lesson is, nothing and no one is sacred in the defence of an accused person like Mr. Rafferty — not the mother who not only had to testify about her daughter’s last morning but also about her own drug addiction, and not the then 10-year-old brother who didn’t walk his sister home that day (but only because he first walked a younger boy home, as he always did, and because by the time he walked by the school again, minutes later, his sister had been kidnapped).

Mr. Derstine spoke in a mild tone as he cross-examined Ms. McDonald. He was mercifully brief. He was not remotely uncivil.

Yet he managed nonetheless to suggest, slyly and never directly, that she bore some responsibility for what happened, or at the least was a lousy parent.

The lawyer in fact laid the groundwork for this approach the day before, when, in his cross-examination of Laura Perry, another mother who was at the school that day, waiting for her own kids, he called her “a prudent parent” because, as he put it, “That’s the safe thing to do.”


‘She’d be outside, in a dress, picking up worms’

The woman who led Tori away that day, and was captured on surveillance video doing so, was Terri-Lynne McClintic, who has already pleaded guilty to and been convicted of first-degree murder for her role in Tori’s death.

Ms. McClintic was then Mr. Rafferty’s girlfriend.

Surveillance video puts Ms. McClintic and Tori walking away from the school at 3:32 p.m.

A minute later, it is alleged, the car to which the little girl was taken, where Mr. Rafferty allegedly was waiting (and where his blood and Tori’s were found mingled together on a gym bag), was caught on video heading north, on its way out of town.

Let it be on record that Tori Stafford was effectively snatched almost as soon as she left Oliver Stephens Public School that day.

Let it be on record that the kilometre walk home, which in Mr. Derstine’s view was so long and so fraught with peril, was on streets familiar to the little girl, in a quiet town of about 35,000, a town so small that when, in the wake of Tori’s disappearance, police showed her classmates the security video, the kids were able to not only identify some of the vehicles, but also tell them where the folks driving them lived.

And let it be said that Ms. McDonald, who is now 33, weathered her appearance in the witness stand with extraordinary dignity.

Led gently through her examination-in-chief by Woodstock Crown attorney Brian Crockett, she admitted she had been using the prescription painkiller OxyContin for the four years before Tori vanished.

At the time of her disappearance, Ms. McDonald said, she was attending a local methadone clinic, and had reduced her use, but not stopped completely. When Tori went missing, she began using the drug daily, as much as 80 milligrams a day.

Her boyfriend, James Goris, was using too, she said, and the two of them had actually met Ms. McClintic twice, and been to the shotgun shack where she then lived with her mother, to buy OxyContin.

On the second visit, she said, they discovered they had Shih-tzu dogs in common — Tori’s, named Cosmo, was the love of her life, and slept with her — and had talked about perhaps breeding Cosmo with one of Carol McClintic’s dogs.

[..]
But she and Mr. Goris decided against the breeding idea, and though he went back to the McClintic house a few more times to buy Oxy, the McClintics were never at their home, and neither Tori nor her brother ever met them.

Ms. McDonald is a tangibly, visibly, stricken human being. Her mouth is an upside-down U. She is terribly pale.

But she didn’t cry, though she came close a couple of times, blinking hard as she described her lost girl, an electric mix of girlie-girl and tomboy. As she put it, smiling at the memory of Tori, “She’d be outside, in a dress, picking up worms.”

As of March 17, Tara McDonald will have been off methadone and Oxycontin, the drug she said “makes you feel comfortable, happy, relaxed,” for six months: She may have miles to go before she sleeps, but she is on her way.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...ald-testifies/