Judge-alone homicide trial arising from the disappearance of two young women connected by forensic and circumstantial evidence to the accused’s apartment, including DNA evidence, body dismemberment, body-part storage in a chest freezer, and extensive inculpatory statements.
The court admitted count-on-count similar act evidence under the Handy framework, finding sufficient connectivity between the two incidents to support limited uses including death, culpable homicide, coincidence rebuttal, and after-the-fact conduct analysis.
On the evidence relating to one victim, the court found beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused caused death by repeated blunt-force head strikes during a sexual assault, and that the murder was first degree under s. 231(5) of the Criminal Code.
On the other count, the court found the accused unlawfully caused death and dismembered the body, but the evidentiary gap on intent left a reasonable doubt on murder, resulting in a manslaughter conviction.
