"You didn't help, accused told: Bleeding girlfriend lay on kitchen floor"
By Sue Montgomery
The Gazette, April 1, 2006
Martin Morin-Cousineau told the jury at his murder trial yesterday that his biggest concern on Oct. 3, 2004, was to help his girlfriend, who lay bleeding on the kitchen floor of their Pierrefonds apartment.
Yet, crown prosecutor Helene Di Salvo pointed out, he neglected to give paramedics arriving at the apartment some key information.
"She's on the floor, she's bleeding, there's a huge hole in the back of her head, there's a broken knife and you didn't think to say to the paramedics, 'Listen, this could help you'? ... Did you ever tell them you found a broken knife on the floor under her head?" she asked the accused.
"I don't remember saying that," replied Morin-Cousineau, 31, who is charged with second-degree murder.
The Quebec Superior Court trial has already heard that Drummond, 24, had been "nagging" Morin-Cousineau about $30 owed to their landlord. As he sat eating on the couch, Morin-Cousineau shouted "Enough!" at Drummond, who was in the kitchen. At the same time, his hands flew up and his fork ended up beside him.
He then heard a thump, and glass breaking. He ran to the kitchen to find Drummond lying face-up in a pool of blood. When he moved her, he found a knife handle under her head, he said.
But a photo taken by paramedics at the scene showed the knife handle on the counter.
A brain scan of Drummond showed a 9.5-centimetre knife blade lodged in the back of her neck. She died on Oct. 5, after life support was removed.
Defence lawyer Sasha Blais called an expert witness yesterday to testify about tests done with steak knives similar to the one Morin-Cousineau was using Oct. 3.
Benoit Anctil, who works for an Ottawa company that designs bulletproof vests, helmets and other protective gear, said he had people use the same hand motion demonstrated by Morin-Cousineau when he shouted "Enough!" to throw a knife at a piece of a pig's back, located about five metres away.
He then measured how far the blade penetrated the meat. The animal's skin, he said, most closely resembles that of a human.
Anctil did not say what his tests revealed.
His testimony is to continue Monday.
smontgomery@thegazette.canwest.com
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