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

[Jezreel]

Well in just under an hour we should find out if Rafferty himself will actually testify..... will be interesting as if the defense does call witness' then then they have to give closing arguments before the crown. I am anxious to see what they are going to present, I think the crown has presented a solid case.

London Free Press - The Crown's case against Michael Rafferty has relied heavily on the testimony of Terri-Lynne McClintic, a former girlfriend who confessed to her role in the April 8, 2009, kidnapping of eight-year-old Victoria (Tori) Stafford of Woodstock. The Crown called 61 witnesses and filed 185 exhibits to back up McClintic's story. Here's a breakdown of McClintic's version and the Crown's evidence, and some of what Rafferty's lawyers face as they prepare a defence.

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THE KIDNAPPING

McClintic's testimony:

On April 8, 2009, Michael Rafferty picked her up in a car, went to a gas station and pressed her to kidnap a girl for him. He dropped her off on Fyfe Ave. outside Oliver Stephens public school in Woodstock. She met Tori on the street and lured the girl to Rafferty's car at a nursing home parking lot.

Crown evidence:

Rafferty wrote on his Facebook page that morning: "Everything good is coming my way."

The gas station surveillance video shows Rafferty's 2003 Honda Civic entering, then leaving just before the kidnapping.

A parent waiting for her children said she saw Tori and a woman walking quickly up the street after school.

Video from College Avenue secondary school (CASS) shows the woman and Tori walking up the street.

The surveillance video also shows a vehicle similar in make and style to Rafferty's driving up the street outside the school minutes before the kidnapping. The car goes into the nursing home parking lot.

Surveillance video shows Tori and McClintic crossing the street into the parking lot. The car leaves the parking lot minutes later.

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GUELPH

McClintic's testimony:

She and Rafferty drove to Guelph to buy drugs, and then to Home Depot to get a hammer and garbage bags. On the way, she puts on a CD. Rafferty told her to cover Tori with his black pea coat.

Crown evidence:

The drug dealer testified she sold Rafferty drugs.

Surveillance video from a gas station convenience store shows a Honda Civic pulling in, Rafferty getting out and taking out money.

The car pulls closer to an adjacent Home Depot and video shows McClintic buying a hammer and garbage bags, then returning to the car. Cellphone records show Rafferty's BlackBerry was used in the Guelph area the same time McClintic said they were there.

A black pea coat was found in Rafferty's closet. The CD McClintic said she played was found in his car.

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MOUNT FOREST

McClintic's testimony:

Rafferty drove to a remote spot near Mount Forest where he raped Tori. She only has her upper clothing on. McClintic kills Tori with a hammer and together she and Rafferty put garbage bags over her body before hiding her under trees near a rock pile. Rafferty cleans himself off with water bottles from his car and with her coat.

Crown evidence:

Tori's body is found with no lower clothing on.

Her blood is found on the car door moulding. Her DNA and Rafferty's DNA are found mixed on a gym bag in the car.

Tori's body is found in garbage bags, covered with several rocks, the largest being 49.67 kg, under the branches of fir trees near a rock pile.

The autopsy shows she died of four hammer strokes to the head.

Cellphone tower records show Rafferty's BlackBerry was used in the Mount Forest area.

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THE DRIVE HOME

McClintic's testimony:

After the killing, Rafferty directs her to throw her Shaq runners out the window along a rural road, and gives her a pair of his Puma runners. They head to Cambridge where they clean the car in a car wash and change into clothes Rafferty brought in a gym bag. One of the items he gives her is a pair of gym shorts, either white with green stripes or green with white stripes. On the way back to Woodstock, Rafferty tells her to use a blue knife in the car to cut out some of the seat that cannot be cleaned.

Crown evidence:

A pair of Shaq runners, McClintic's size with the laces tied the way she described them, is found on a rural road. A pair of men's Puma runners are found in her closet. A pair of gym shorts, white with green striping, is found in a gym bag inside Rafferty's car.

A blue knife is found in Rafferty's home, its blade removed. The car seat in his Honda Civic is thrown out some time around April 15.

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THE COVERUP

McClintic's testimony:

Rafferty texted her to tell her he had bought and left her a bottle of blond hair dye to change her appearance. He also rehearsed what she should say to the police. After she was arrested on an unrelated matter April 12, Rafferty came to visit her at the Genest detention centre for youth in London. They talked on the phone often.

Crown evidence:

A bottle of blond hair dye was found in McClintic's closet. A receipt for that hair dye was found in Rafferty's house.

McClintic's journal included different scenarios of what to say to police. Genest detention centre phone records showed communication.

Detention centre video shows two visits from Rafferty.

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BEFORE THE ARREST

Crown evidence:

Hours after the killing, Rafferty texted a woman to arrange a sexual encounter for the next day. He told girlfriends in April he was worried about a friend in custody who was being fingered for the killing.

He also expressed his concern over Tori's disappearance.

On May 11, Rafferty went to a London auto wreckers. On May 14, Rafferty went to the Bell store in Masonville Place to exchange his BlackBerry.

On May 15, he travelled to the U.S, for a specific pair of white Puma shoes. Police interviewed him the same day, and made mention of his unusual looking car. The next day Rafferty called several car rental places.

On May 19, before his arrest, Rafferty went to the Bell store again to see if his replacement phone was in.

[Ma Huang Sor]

What a sad story. What the hell is wrong with people?

[Jezreel]

Well Rafferty is not taking the stand! The defense is not giving an opening statement and are only calling one witness. There is a publication ban on her name, she is a Grandmother who picked up her grand kids each day from the same school Tori went to. One witness, that seems odd, I guess what she says could be really surprising, I would have though Derstine would have done more, unless she hold the key to the story?

[Jezreel]

Wow I am floored, the defense called one witness and rested it's case, no big surprise, no nothing really in my opinion, just one single witness, a Grandmother and hostile witness who stated she was not happy about testifying for the defense and the only part of her testimony that we hadn't heard is that she said she saw TLM enter the school via the front doors that day.
Derstine will present his closing on Friday, the Crown will present their closing on Monday and the judges charge will be on Tuesday, then verdict watch.
Rodnet Stafford spoke with the media today and called Rafferty a coward for not testifying. The video should be available soon

London Free Press - A Woodstock grandmother says she had a clear look at the dark-haired woman who led Tori Stafford away on the day she was abducted in 2009.

"She walked briskly and looked straight ahead like she was on a mission," said the woman, who was at Oliver Stephens school picking up her grandchildren.

She said Tori was skipping along behind the woman in the white coat, looking happy but trying to keep up.

The grandmother, who cannot be identified by court order, was the first and only witness called by defence lawyer Dirk Derstine.

He has suggested that Terri-Lynne McClintic, who has since been identified by surveillance video as the woman leading the eight-year-old Woodstock girl away, masterminded the abduction.

McClintic, 21, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in April 2010 and has testified against Rafferty at his trial, now in its ninth week.

Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault causing bodily harm in the April 8, 2009 disappearance of Stafford.

The grandmother told court Tuesday she got several good looks at the woman in front of the school, entering the school, and later on Fyfe Avenue in an image caught on surveillance video.

She said the woman caught her attention because she was wearing a puffy ski jacket on a hot day.

In cross examination, the Crown pointed out that the grandmother's memory conflicted with earlier statements she made to police in 2009.

Derstine announced earlier Tuesday that Rafferty would not testify in his own defence. Rafferty's testimony was considered crucial to counter the story told by McClintic, his former girlfriend, earlier in the trial.

[Kip]

How very odd - I don't understand at all the point of that last witness. Was the defense saying it wasn't TLM? But TLM confessed to abducting Tori. I'm confused. Oh, well, it seems to me that the Crown presented a very solid case that is beyond dispute - hope the jury saw it that way as well.

[Jezreel]

How very odd - I don't understand at all the point of that last witness. Was the defense saying it wasn't TLM? But TLM confessed to abducting Tori. I'm confused. Oh, well, it seems to me that the Crown presented a very solid case that is beyond dispute - hope the jury saw it that way as well.

I think the defence was trying to show that TLM was the mastermind behind the abduction, she brazenly walked into the school and left with Tori and maybe trying to show that rafferty believed that TLM was infact just babysitting Tori, and of course trying to create reasonable doubt. I'm surprised that they gave up their chance of presenting their closing last for this witness. Also the witness testified that she noticed TLM because she was wearing a winter jacket on a warm day (it was 8c that day, not warm at all). The surveillance video was released the day after Tori was taken, the witness recognised the women as the one she saw walking up the road with Tori and contacted the police. Her first interview on April 11^th she didn't mention about TLM walking into the school. In her May interview with police is when she said this, when asked by the crown why she didn't mention it in her first interview, she said they didn't ask. It doesn't create reasonable doubt to me, I agree with you Kip I think the crown has presented. Great case, I wonder what defence will have to say in their closing on Friday?

[Kip]

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.

[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

[Kip]

Wow, Jezreel, your knowledge of this case is impressive. So tomorrow, Friday, I presume both the defense and the Crown will present closing arguments. Do you think the jury will start deliberations then, deliberate on the weekend, or not start deliberations until Monday?

[Jezreel]

Wow, Jezreel, your knowledge of this case is impressive. So tomorrow, Friday, I presume both the defense and the Crown will present closing arguments. Do you think the jury will start deliberations then, deliberate on the weekend, or not start deliberations until Monday?

Thanks, I have followed this case extensively pretty much since Tori went missing. It's not something that happens so close to home. There was so much drama and speculation in the beginning, like most missing children cases the parents (well this case Tara) was prime suspect in a lot of peoples eyes.

The defense will present their closing arguments tomorrow, the crown is going to present theirs on Monday (they have never had court on a Monday in this trial so far) then on Tuesday the judge will give his charge to the jury, which some reporters are saying could take the whole day or longer. No doubt we will (or I will be) on jury watch next week.

[Jezreel]

Closing is delayed:

AM980 - There has been a delay in Michael Rafferty's first degree murder trial after legal discussions lasted longer than expected.

Justice Thomas Heeney is considering a variety of legal issues involved in his charge.

The crown, defense and Justice Heeney will be back in the courtroom on Friday to work on those legal issues.

The jury won't be back in the courtroom to hear Rafferty's lawyer Dirk Derstine give his closing argument until Monday morning at 10 a.m.

The Crown is scheduled to deliver its closing argument on Tuesday, followed by Justice Thomas Heeney's final instructions to the jury on Wednesday.

It's expected the jury will begin deliberations sometime Thursday.

Question, I read that the charges charge could take two days, that seems an awful long time, I haven't followed many cases this closely so I don't know if this is usual or not?

I wonder if Derstine is trying to get the judge to allow the jurors to consider finding him guilty on lesser charges, I really don't think there is anyway he will be acquitted, but he is probably trying to get less time then the minimum life sentence he stands to face.

[Kip]

If I were a jury member, I don't think I could stay awake through two days of charges.

I believe MR is the one who killed Tori. But I can see how this case won't be easy for the jury with TLM having testified that she was the one who struck the fatal blows (even though she changed her testimony).

I think MR is clearly the mastermind behind this and that TLM was so wanting his love and approval that she abducted Tori for him. But did she also kill Tori for him? I could see that happening. More likely, I think MR killed Tori, and TLM changed her story to her being the killer to keep MR's approval. But I don't know if there's any good way for the jury to sort this all out.

[Jezreel]

You’re right, I don’t think it’s going to be an easy decision, I caught some of the defence’s closing today, and he is laying it out pretty good, I mean he should he is a well known lawyer who has won many cases, not a sleazy Baez type. As I was listening I could see how it might make the jury think, he is giving reasonable doubt, if it’s actually enough I do not know, not in my eyes. I will post updates from this morning when they are posted online.

Rafferty’s mother was in court this morning, lining up outside the courtroom
She said she had been there twice last week also, but was reluctant to talk any further at that point. Pictured below is Deborah Murphy arriving at the courthouse this morning.
When she walked out of the courthouse at lunch, she was mobbed by photographers and reporters, I felt somewhat bad for her, thrust into this mess by the action (or inactions) of her son. You could tell she couldn’t walk anywhere as she was surrounded. She did say "he's not guilty and it hurts like hell. It hurts."
Then her and a man who identified himself as Rafferty’s step-father went to sit on a ledge outside the courthouse. She did say to reporters she would comment more shortly. I walked pasted as she and the man were sitting there, her cane beside her and she looked like a broken women, I did ultimately feel for her at that point, regardless of whether she thinks her son is guilty or not, her life has been turned upside down, there was two or three younger people (to me kind of looked thuggish) that were saying bring back the death penalty and walked over to DM, a reporter talking to her at the time, asked them to leave and said don’t worry I won’t let them bother you.


There was also this man walking around with a sign, on the back side it said something about Stephen Harper and the death penalty.

There has been a petition going around to bring back the death penalty in cases like this, Stephen Harper has basically said that under no circumstance will Canada re-open this issue.

[Jezreel]

Here's the full LFP update:

UPDATE: 11:04 Michael Rafferty's defense lawyer began his closing arguments Monday by urging the jurors to overlook his client's "moral flaws" when they judge the evidence.

Derstine acknowledged the trial was "set against a backdrop of an unspeakable tragedy" - the murder of Tori Stafford - but pleaded with them to be dispassionate and judge his client beyond a reasonable doubt.

He urged them not to leap to judgment and not to solve "a murder mystery."

Derstine argued the crucial question in the case is the direct testimony of Terri-Lynne McClintic and her credibility.

He called McClintic a "prolific liar" and her cheerful statements to police that she wanted to find Tori a "fantastic performance."

Derstine said McClintic came up with "well-thought out lies," like an "Oscar-winning actor."

He said McClintic constantly changed her story to escape responsibility and acted like "the girl next door" - eager to help when she interviewed by police.

Derstine said McClintic admitted she was unable to sort out truth from lies, even in her own mind.

McClintic lied about killing Stafford for two years, blaming Rafferty before changing her story.

But Derstine said the jurors should have "no doubt" that she was telling the truth when she testified she killed Tori with a hammer.

UPDATE: 1:07PM Michael Rafferty's mother told reporters outside court today "he's not guilty and it hurts like hell. It hurts."

Confronted by a mob of reporters, the small woman walking with a cane said she would provide more comment later.

"I think he's got a good lawyer," she said when asked what she thought of Dirk Derstine's closing argument, which began Monday morning.

In court, Dirk Derstine, Michael Rafferty's defense lawyer continued to hammer away at the credibility of Terri-Lynne McClintic, Rafferty's former girlfriend and the Crown's star witness. Continuing his closing argument, Derstine called McClintic a chronic and manipulative liar with a strong tendency for violence.

He read extensive passages from Mc Clintic's journals where she confesses to a "thirst for blood" and writes long sadistic fantasies about killing and dismembering innocent people.

Derstine also dealt with McClintic's fascination with the rapper Necro and read passages of his ultra-violent lyrics from songs like No Remorse and Creepy Crawly.

Derstine said McClintic was not motivated by Necro but the lyrics were "a window into her soul." Derstine said the violence was more than a fantasy. Depite her meek appearance at trial, Derstine said she has a history of violence, including assaults on her own mother, a knife attack and robbery on two men in Woodstock and the beating of another inmate shortly before the trial.

Derstine also went after McClintic's testimony that she only abducted Tori Stafford on Rafferty's orders.

Derstine said Rafferty and McClintic were in a casual relationship and he would not have reason to trust her.

Rafferty did not behave like a person who was carrying out a kidnapping on April 8 2009., leaving McClintic and Tori alone in his car while he stopped for coffee and bought painkillers at a friend's house in Guelph, he said.

In contrast, there was video evidence that McClintic looked intent and determined when she abducted Tori and bought murder tools at a Home Depot in Guelph.

Derstine also mocked McClintic's claim that she picked Tori at random and did not know her.

He said it appeared that Tori was targeted and the girl willingly followed McClintic because she was not a stranger.

Derstine said two witnesses testified McClintic was walking intently away from the school saying nothing while Tori followed.

Derstine is expected to wrap up after the lunch recess.

[Kip]

.... I felt somewhat bad for [Rafferty's mother], thrust into this mess by the action (or inactions) of her son. You could tell she couldn’t walk anywhere as she was surrounded. She did say "he's not guilty and it hurts like hell. It hurts."
... I did ultimately feel for her at that point, regardless of whether she thinks her son is guilty or not, her life has been turned upside down...

I think that very often relatives of murderers are victims themselves (there was a thread on that subject here recently). And it's sometimes hard to blame relatives for continuing to believe in the accused. I know it would take some pretty strong evidence to convince me if any of my brothers, my husband, or sons were accused of doing something like this.

I remember a case where a man was accused of killing his mother-in-law. His niece (about 10 years old) was sleeping on the living room couch at her grandmother's the night of the murder and identified her uncle as the perp. He was convicted and went to prison. It seemed pretty straightforward - eyewitness testimony from someone who knew her uncle well. The guy's wife (the daughter of the murdered woman) continued to believe in him (the rest of the family turned against her) and hired detectives and eventually proved it wasn't her husband.

Anyway, back to Rafferty...I hope the prosecution points out that Rafferty's actions while TLM was getting Tori from school are not those of a person innocently picking up a child from school, but someone consciously staying out of the scene. He lets TLM take all the risks here. And once he raped Tori, can anyone believe he planned to let Tori go home?

[shadytree]

Just curious how people re still able to say that he raped this little girl? There is nothing to support thi theory. As well, how do you go from having a sexual relationship ith women up to the ge of 43 to raping an 8 year old?

[Lady Cop]

Just curious how people re still able to say that he raped this little girl? There is nothing to support thi theory. As well, how do you go from having a sexual relationship ith women up to the ge of 43 to raping an 8 year old?

are you joking? have you read the evidence and testimony?

and pedophiles come in all ages and sizes. even married men with families.

excellent reporting job Jez. thankyou.

[Jezreel]

Just curious how people re still able to say that he raped this little girl? There is nothing to support thi theory. As well, how do you go from having a sexual relationship ith women up to the ge of 43 to raping an 8 year old?

Can you anyone come up with a logical explanation as to why an 8 year old girl would remove her skirt, tights, shoes and coat in the company of strangers? I can't, apparently neither can his lawyer Dirk Derstine according to his closing.

Just curious how people re still able to say that he raped this little girl? There is nothing to support thi theory. As well, how do you go from having a sexual relationship ith women up to the ge of 43 to raping an 8 year old?

are you joking? have you read the evidence and testimony?

and pedophiles come in all ages and sizes. even married men with families.

excellent reporting job Jez. thankyou.

I totally agree LC and thanks, I am really anxious about this case, I hope the jury is a smart one, there are just some things that cannot be explained away.

[Jezreel]

that's what I thought of Derstine's closing yesterday. I understand he does not have to show proof of anything, but I don't get how he can say that if TLM was not the mastermind and she had ample opportunity to save Tori, why didn't she? My question is why didn't Rafferty then if he is so innocent?

LFP - The defence lawyer boiled down 10 weeks of evidence against Michael Rafferty into a lengthy argument about the Crown's key witness lying and his client acting, if not with morals, at least without guilt.

The mother boiled down the years of raising Michael Rafferty into a few short but firm statements about her son.

"He's not guilty and it hurts like hell. It hurts," Deborah Murphy said outside court Monday.

" . . . My son's innocent. And this could happen to any man that's walking around right now. Terri-Lynne McClintic has wrecked our lives and I just hope that justice is served and that he's freed."

It was the first time Murphy has said anything publicly about the charges against her son after his arrest in 2009 for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of Victoria (Tori) Stafford. Murphy said she attended court last week, but Monday was the first time the media noticed.

Besides proclaiming her son's innocence, Murphy said little else. About lawyer Dirk Derstine's closing arguments, she said: "I think he's got a good lawyer."

Just how good remains to be seen, but Derstine took all day to dissect the Crown's case against Rafferty, largely by dissecting its key witness, McClintic.

"Clearly Ms. McClintic has proven herself to be a prolific and accomplished liar," Derstine said about the woman who lied to police several times in 2009 and tripped up at times on the witness stand.

"She has perjured herself over and over and over again. It is dangerous if not impossible to rely on her testimony in order to convict (Rafferty)."

Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault causing bodily harm in the death of the eight-year-old Woodstock girl. McClintic, 21, pleaded guilty in 2010 to first-degree murder.

McClintic has testified that on April 8, 2009, she suddenly took a young girl she didn't know because Rafferty challenged her to do it.

Rafferty drove to Guelph where he bought coffee at a Tim Hortons and drugs at a friend's house, before making her buy a hammer and garbage bags at a Home Depot, she said. He then drove to Mount Forest where he raped Tori in the back of his car, she said. On the way back to Woodstock, he told her to cut out chunks of the backseat that they could not clean.

After her arrest in 2009, McClintic told police Rafferty killed Tori, but at his trial, said she snapped and "savagely murdered that little girl."

That may be the only time McClintic is telling the truth, Derstine said.

Besides being a liar, McClintic remains a violent and dangerous woman, as shown in her journal entries, musical choices and actions in and out of jail, including several assaults, Derstine said.

He re-read several of the most vicious of those entries, where McClintic wrote she was feeling "like a vampire in heat" and "thirsty for blood."

"Wow," Derstine said after reading one segment, looking at the jury and shaking his head.

McClintic never lost her "sickenly violent and horrifying in the extreme" thought processes, he said, noting she's been charged with stomping and kicking a fellow inmate after luring her into a room by pretending she wanted the woman to be a mentor.

"Think about what this means about her. Think about what this means about her assertion . . . that (violence) was in the past and I never really acted it out."

After dispensing with McClintic's credibility, Derstine analysed the Crown's case against Rafferty:

The visit to Guelph:

If Rafferty had a kidnapped girl in his back seat, why would he go to a busy Tim Hortons to get coffee, where anyone could see the girl? Derstine asked.

Why would he spend time casually chatting with a drug dealer in Guelph while leaving Tori alone with McClintic? Derstine asked.

Why would he then park in a busy Home Depot parking lot where anyone might see the child?

"Are those the actions of somebody who believes there's a kidnapped little girl in the car?"

Why would a grown man need a hammer to kill a little girl? Why wouldn't a man continuing fixing up his car not have a hammer in his car already, as he did when he was arrested? Derstine asked.

"Maybe a smaller woman would feel more comfortable in buying a tool," he said.

If McClintic had picked up Tori on a "lark" a "dare," and was heartsick over it, then why did she walk into the Home Depot like someone on a mission and in eight minutes buy a hammer and garbage bags.

"She was the one who was much more deeply enmeshed in this."

The kidnapping:

McClintic said she picked Tori because she was walking alone and talked to her the whole way up the street from her school to Rafferty's car.

Derstine noted McClintic knew the neighbourhood well, often passed in front of Tori's front door while walking in the area, and knew Tori's mother and boyfriend."And what a shocking coincidence it was this girl of all girls this woman would pick on that particular day," Derstine said.

One parent testified a woman who looked like McClintic walked into the school. That parent and another testified McClintic rushed ahead of Tori up the hill, not talking at all to the little girl chatting behind.

"Who is that a child follows unquestioning?" Derstine asked. "A person they trust or someone they know."

After the killing, McClintic wrote in her journal several times, preparing for a possible police interview, "I don't know Tori Stafford." Why write it down so often, "Unless you're afraid you'll blurt it out," Derstine said.

The backseat:

The backseat was not in Rafferty's car after the killing, suggesting he got rid of it after McClintic cut out the pieces.

But a neighbour said he saw Rafferty take the seat out before April 8 and store it in a shed, Derstine noted. The neighbour also saw the same seat about April 15 at the curb and there were no chunks of it missing.

The evidence suggests there never was a backseat bench in the car April 8, he argued, "utterly at odds" with what McClintic said.

Forensic and DNA evidence:

The fact Tori was wearing only a shirt does not prove beyond doubt she was sexually assaulted, Derstine said. "There are lots of other ways at looking at that piece of evidence." The girl could have been killed, for example, while urinating in the snow.

Rafferty was a young man with an active sex life living with his mother. Of course there would be his DNA and DNA from females in his car, Derstine said. To say unanalysed DNA from a female probably would belong to Tori "would be a grievous error."

The evidence can prove Rafferty's and a woman's DNA were mingled on a gym bag. It can say Tori's was also on the gym bag but it cannot say how Tori's got mixed, or when. The most likely hypothesis: Tori's DNA got mixed in after the woman and Rafferty's.

Facebook:

Rafferty wrote on his Facebook page the morning of April 8, "everything good is comming (sic) my way."

All that proves is his client is a poor speller. Considering Rafferty's lifestyle, he may have been checking out girlfriends' pages and contemplating doing something with them.

Post-offence conduct:

Court heard Rafferty continued to have several girlfriends after April 8, even texting one that evening to arrange a date.

Neither than, nor declining to go to police, prove he kidnapped, raped or killed Tori, Derstine said.

"You have to be very careful about how you use that evidence. It is not to his credit but it doesn't make him a murderer. Does a leopard change his spots?"

The Crown might say Rafferty was hardly horrified by what McClintic did because he continued to stay in touch, and video from her detention centre will show a loving couple, Derstine said.

First, she initiated that contact, he said.

Second, it could be neither one wanted the other to go to police, so they kept up the relationship, he suggested.

"It was in his interest for Terri-Lynne . . . not to implicate him."

As soon as Rafferty said he wouldn't be coming around much anymore, McClintic went to police, Derstine noted.

Link to Rodney Stafford speaking yesterday:
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2012/...27211.html

Rafferty's mother speaking briefly:
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/raffe...29241.html

National Post - As it was outside the courthouse here, where Michael Rafferty’s mother was proclaiming the innocence of her son and blaming Terri-Lynne McClintic for “ruining our lives,” so it was inside it, where Mr. Rafferty’s lawyer, Dirk Derstine, was warning jurors not to believe a word McClintic said.

“She perjured herself over and over and over again,” Mr. Derstine said of the 21-year-old convicted killer.

He was making his closing argument to the jurors Monday.

More here: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012...der-trial/


Michael Rafferty's lawyers Dirk Derstine and Laura Giordano arrive at the courthouse in London, Ontario


Michael Rafferty's mother Deborah Murphy and her partner David Riddell emerge from the courthouse Monday following closing arguments by her son's lawyers


Sweet Tori

[Jezreel]

Update from this morning, the crown seems to be doing a good job of disputing the whole defence theory (or lack there of should I say).

LFP - UPDATE: 11:03 Michael Rafferty and former girlfriend Terri-Lynne McClintic "were in this together, together they are guilty," Crown Attorney Kevin Gowdey says.

Beginning what he said would be two days of final argument to convict Rafferty for the 2009 murder of eight-year-old Victoria (Tori) Stafford, Gowdey reminded the jury any kidnapping or sexual assault that leads to death requires a first degree murder conviction.

Rafferty and McClintic collaborated, Gowdey said. "Even if Terri-Lynne McClintic was the one with the hammer, it doesn't matter," he said.

Rafferty drove around Oliver Stephens school in Woodstock and got gas for the long trip to Mount Forest.

Rafferty parked at a nursing home parking lot because it was secluded and had easy access to Hwy. 401.

Rafferty "scoped out" the school when his car was captured by a video camera at 9:04 a.m. on April 8, 2009, the day Tori went missing.

Gowdey said it was unlikely that McClintic knew and targeted Tori because she had no way of knowing that it was Tori's first day walking home alone.

He dismissed as faulty memory defence evidence by a Woodstock woman who said she saw McClintic enter the school and walk "sternly" up the hill with Tori. It's unlikely no one else but that witness saw McClintic in the school, he said.

And there is no evidence Rafferty asked McClintic who Tori was and why she was in the car, he said.

UPDATE: 1:21 Crown attorney Kevin Gowdey said Michael Rafferty drove several hours to the perfect crime scene in an area north of Guelph that he knew well.

He said the isolated farm lane was hundreds of metres off the main road.

"Where no one will hear her (Tori's) screams," he said.

Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual assault of eight-year-old Tori Stafford in 2009.

Gowdey said Terri-Lynne McClintic had no reason to direct Rafferty down the lane and could not find it afterwards.

He said McClintic did help create a detailed map of the crime scene and gave a graphic account of a sexual assault on Tori, which included her surrendering the pleading girl to Rafferty.

"You could not make that up," said Gowdey.

Defense lawyer Dirk Derstine suggested his client walked away from the car and was horrified to come back and find Tori dead at the hands of McClintic.

But Rafferty did not testify and Gowdey said there was no evidence to back that story.

He said McClintic's accurate description of the area was consistent with a passive observer.

Gowdey said it was clear that Rafferty and McClintic worked together to cover and carry Tori's body and conceal it with heavy rocks.

Gowdey said the body was well hidden and too decomposed for DNA evidence of sexual assault but he said it was the obvious reason why Tori's body was found naked from the waist down.

Rafferty seemed agitated during Gowdey's presentation, rolling his eyes and mouthing words.

Gowdey continues his final arguments this afternoon.