03-06-2012, 10:31 AM
London Free Press - First witnesses to be called
A teacher who said goodbye for the last time.
Parents who witnessed an abduction in the making.
A mother whose rising panic fueled a search for her missing daughter.
These are among the first witnesses expected to be called as jurors begin Tuesday considering the evidence in the first-degree murder trial of Michael Thomas Rafferty.
Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty t murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping in the April 8, 2009 disappearance of eight-year-old Woodstock girl Victoria 'Tori' Stafford.
Tori was last seen on a surveillance video from a nearby high school walking home from Oliver Stephens public school.
Jurors will see that video clip as well as other visual evidence as the Crown begins its case by focusing on the day Tori disappeared.
Expected to testify about that day is Tori's mother, Tara McDonald.
"As hard at that will be for her and for us, unfortunately it is necessary," Crown Attorney Kevin Gowdey told jurors in his opening statement Monday.
A woman seen walking with Tori in the surveillance video, Terri-Lynne McClintic, 21, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison April 30 2010.
She will be a key witness in the Crown's case, Gowdey said.
The trial is expected to last up to three months.
This is Terri-Lynne leading away young Tori
![[Image: 0306videoshot.jpg&size=248x186]](http://storage.canoe.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/?src=http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/raffertytrial/2012/03/06/0306videoshot.jpg&size=248x186)
There will be reporters tweeting updates througout the day.
A teacher who said goodbye for the last time.
Parents who witnessed an abduction in the making.
A mother whose rising panic fueled a search for her missing daughter.
These are among the first witnesses expected to be called as jurors begin Tuesday considering the evidence in the first-degree murder trial of Michael Thomas Rafferty.
Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty t murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping in the April 8, 2009 disappearance of eight-year-old Woodstock girl Victoria 'Tori' Stafford.
Tori was last seen on a surveillance video from a nearby high school walking home from Oliver Stephens public school.
Jurors will see that video clip as well as other visual evidence as the Crown begins its case by focusing on the day Tori disappeared.
Expected to testify about that day is Tori's mother, Tara McDonald.
"As hard at that will be for her and for us, unfortunately it is necessary," Crown Attorney Kevin Gowdey told jurors in his opening statement Monday.
A woman seen walking with Tori in the surveillance video, Terri-Lynne McClintic, 21, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison April 30 2010.
She will be a key witness in the Crown's case, Gowdey said.
The trial is expected to last up to three months.
This is Terri-Lynne leading away young Tori
There will be reporters tweeting updates througout the day.
The only reason people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.