Victoria (Tori) Stafford, 8 - Canada, Murdered. The trial of Michael Rafferty

[Jezreel]

Thanks for the explanation, Jezreel. If I were on the jury, I'd be thinking that if MR thought TLM was babysitting Tori, why didn't he just park out in front of the school like other people picking up children?

I'd also be wondering what difference it made if TLM went into the school to get Tori or got her on the street as Tori wasn't being forcibly abducted at that point. I'd tend to believe whatever TLM said about this - she confessed to so much worse - I don't see what reason she would have to lie about something as trivial as this.

Nothing about the defense's story line makes sense. What did MR think TLM was buying a hammer and trash bags for?

Is MR even disputing that he raped Tori? In any case, if TLM was the one who wielded the hammer, why didn't MR stop her?

It will be interesting to read about the defense's closing arguments.

I do believe a lot of what TLM said also to a point, her parts of her story changed slight, it wasn't until January of this year that she confessed it was herself that kick and killed Tori, she stuck with that story on the witness stand in Rafferty's trial. She also had said that it was her idea to buy the hammer and garbage bags in January, on the stand she said she had lied about that and confessed to the killing in January as she did not want to testify. Everything else she has said pretty much matches up with evidence the crown presented.

If Rafferty didn't know the reason as to why she was buying the hammer and garbage bags, why did he stop at the ATM minutes before and withdraw money for her to purchase them?

Rafferty has pleaded not guilty to all 3 charges, so yep he is disputing that he raped, Derstine suggested at one point while TLM was on cross that TLM offered Tori to him as a gift and he refused. He said that TLM asked MR to drive somewhere so she could talk to Tori as she was scared of him, when he pulled into the lane way Rafferty went for a walk to they could talk and when he came he was horrified that she had murdered Tori, but he helped her clean up!! This is why he didn't stop her. TLM vehemently denied this scenario and

From the time that they would have gotten to Mount Forest to the time that Rafferty used his cell phone for the first time in hours was over an 1 ¹⁄₂ hours, maybe it would take about ¹⁄₂ to bag her body, carry her to the rock and move some of the big heavy boulders on top of her and then clean up the scene, what about the other hour, I highly doubt Rafferty would have gone on an hour long walk without his cell phone in which he is constantly using (has been verified by phones records).

TLM gave an astonishingly accurate description of the crime scene and surroundings, the only way I can see her being able to do this is if she was in fact standing in the field as she stated.

You're right, why wouldn't he wait at the school, he was also caught driving by the school at just after 9am, after dropping TLM off at the school and again he was caught slowly driving past the school while TLM would have been walking with Tori, if it was babysitting as he thought, why didn't he stop then and there and pick them up instead of driving to the care home and waiting?

Not enough reasonable doubt in my mind, doubt that will change with closing arguments by the defence.

There has been a lot of legal issues in this trial so far, once the jury is sequestered the publication ban will cease and according to Mike Knoll at LFP, there will be a lot of interesting things they will report on regarding them