No signs of forced entry or struggle in murder victim's apartment: Windsor police
Warning: graphic content
A Forensic Identification Specialist testified Friday before a jury in the first-degree murder trial of Jitesh Bhogal.
Bhogal, 31, is charged with the death of Autumn Taggart, 31, who was killed on June 10, 2018 inside her Unviersity Avenue West apartment building.
Const. John Lasorda has been on the stand since Thursday afternoon to give evidence about his role in the murder investigation.
Lasorda told the court he was dispatched the crime scene around 9:50 p.m. on June 10 for a “primary” examination of the scene, focusing on the area where Taggart’s body was found.
“The minutiae would have been detailed later on (by other Forensic Identification Specialists).” Lasorda testified.
He told the jury he looked at the exterior of the apartment building at University and McKay Avenues, looking for any evidence of forced entry.
Finding none, Lasorda says he entered the building and went to Taggart’s unit with the coroner, Dr. Patrick Charron.
Lasorda says he first looked at the front door of Unit 7 and testified, “there was nothing that would indicate forced entry” such as a broken lock or doorknob or damage to the door itself.
The officer then walked through the apartment, taking images of all rooms in the two-bedroom apartment, he testified.
Lasorda told the jury the balcony door was locked when he arrived and was not damaged.
On the concrete floor of the balcony, images put into evidence, show chalk drawings.
Lasorda was asked to describe what Taggart’s bedroom looked like.
“The rest of the house was very clean in comparison,” Lasorda testified.
He told the jury there were many items “strewn about the room” including litter, empty water bottles, clothes, even strawberries which Lasorda says were rotten.
“Miss Taggart was covered by comforters but bruising was visible to her face area,” Lasorda testified.
He told the jury her feet were visible from under the covers and there was an open laptop and cellphone visible beside her.
On cross-examination, Lasorda confirmed for defence lawyer Peter Thorning there were no signs of a fight or struggle, like broken furniture, damaged walls or visible weapons in Taggart’s bedroom.
Lasorda told the jury they are trained to observe for signs of sexual assault, including fluids and injury to a victim’s body.
He testified there was no “overt” evidence to suggest a sexual assault had occurred to Taggart.
Lasorda testified he helped the coroner turn Taggart’s body over so the doctor could check her back for wounds.
Thorning asked if it was possible that action would have exposed Taggart’s side and breasts to DNA evidence on the bedsheet.
Lasorda testified it “wasn’t impossible” for DNA to be transferred from the bedsheet to her body.
Thorning went through the officers images, asking why tissues that appear to be blood-soaked, weren’t seized by Lasorda.
He told Thorning his role was to complete a primary investigation, to focus on Taggart’s body and surrounding area, and that he is not certain what other items were seized from the room.
Lasorda told the jury he seized eight items from Taggart’s bedroom: two comforters, a laptop, a cellphone, a pillow, a bathrobe, the bedsheet and all medications visible (at the direction of the coroner).
During their chance to re-examine Lasorda’s evidence, assistant crown attorney Ilana Mizel submitted two new “sensitive” photographs of Taggart’s body, after she was turned over.
Lasorda testified her chest would have been touching the bedsheet, but that her genital area would not have made contact with the bedsheet.
The coroner, Dr. Patrick Charron, testified late Friday.
“I turned her (Autumn Taggart) head to look at the different sides of her head,” Charron testified.
He told the jury he doesn’t remember, specifically, turning Taggart’s body over to look at her back but testified it would be part of his “normal routine” to do so.
On cross examination Charron told the court Taggart was covered with a single blanket which he lifted up off of her during his assessment and he told the court he placed the blanket on the floor.
Investigators with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) testified earlier this week.
CBSA Intelligence Officer David Klein testified Jitesh Bhogal crossed into Windsor at the tunnel around 2:15 a.m. on June 10, 2018, using a Nexus card.
Joseph Janos, an Investigator with CBP told the Jury Bhogal crossed back into Detroit around 7:15 a.m. on the same morning, again using his Nexus card for entry into the USA.
Neither officer had any evidence about what questions Bhogal was asked by officers either coming into Windsor or back into Detroit, nor how long he was waiting in line to cross the border.
Justice Renee Pomerance has excused the jury from attending on Monday, as the lawyers have some legal arguments to discuss.
The nature and content of those discussions are subject to a publication ban.
Testimony will continue in Superior Court on Tuesday, Oct. 26.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.