The defence at a Burnaby murder trial accused a police witness of putting on a "show" for the jury by using the victim’s first name during his testimony Wednesday.
RCMP Sgt. Michael Urmson took the stand at the trial of Ibrahim Ali in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
Ali is on trial for first-degree murder in the death of a 13-year-old girl found dead in Burnaby’s Central Park on July 19, 2017.
The victim’s name is protected by a publication ban.
‘She’s a human being’
Urmson used the girl’s first name while describing arriving at the place in the bush where her body was found.
A police dog team had located the body at 1:14 a.m. about 20 metres from a trail in the southeast section of the park.
Under cross-examination, Ali’s lawyer Kevin McCullough asked Urmson why he was using the victim’s first instead of last name during his testimony since he hadn’t known her.
“Because she’s a human being,” Urmson said.
But McCullough challenged him further.
“I’m going to suggest to you … you’re doing that intentionally as part of a show for the jury, right?” McCullough asked.
“No,” Urmson said. “I can tell you, for a file like this, it’s very emotional because of the nature of what happened to her, and that makes it more personal for her, and she’s a human being, so that’s what her name is.”
“I’m going to suggest to you you’re taught at RCMP school to do exactly that — when you get on the stand in front of the jury, use their first name to humanize this. Aren’t you taught that?
“Our training for court is somewhat lacking,” Urmson said.
“You’re telling the ladies and gentlemen of the jury that you haven’t been told to use the first name of the deceased when you’re giving your evidence to try and humanize them,” McCullough said.
“I don’t recall being taught that,” Urmson said.
McCullough kept up this line of questioning until the Crown raised an objection.
‘I believed she was murdered’
As acting sergeant with Burnaby RCMP’s serious crime unit on July 19, 2017, it was Urmson’s role to decide whether the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team should be called in.
Looking at the body at the scene, Urmson said he couldn’t see any obvious cause of death but said he believed the girl had been murdered based on the location of her body, the location of her possessions (her wallet and phone had been located beside a nearby trail, and wired earbuds had been located in the bush) and the state of her clothing.
Urmson said the victim's clothing was “dishevelled.”
Her T-shirt and sports bra had been pulled up, exposing one breast, and her shorts and underwear had been pulled down, according to Urmson.
He said the shorts and underwear were “twisted and bunched” and had not been put on properly.
During cross-examination, Urmson also revealed three other details about the crime scene noted by a crime scene photographer: a cut at the bottom of the victim’s left ring finger, an unknown substance in her hair and right ear and scrapes to her knees and ankles.
“His opinion was that those may be dragged marks,” Urmson said of the crime scene photographer.
McCullough noted Urmson’s notes at the time identified those details as “possible hold-back” information — details only the killer would know and that police keep secret.
“Later, it may be that the killer says something to someone or, alternatively, gives a police statement, where he knows some unique piece of information that only the killer will know, fair?” asked McCullough.
“That’s something we look for but don’t always have,” Urmson said.
The Crown's theory, which has not been proven, is that Ali attacked the 13-year-old in Central Park, dragged her into the forest and strangled her to death while sexually assaulting her.
The trial continues.
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