Carland Walker and Nabila Aminzadah had been dating for two years when paramedics were called to the basement apartment where Walker lived with his brother to find Aminzadah lying on her back in Walker’s bedroom, her eyes swollen shut, with marks all over her body including cuts and puncture wounds to her back.
At the opening day of Carland Walker’s first-degree murder trial, assistant Crown attorney Beverley Olesko told the jury in her opening address that Walker tried to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. Olesko explained the Crown rejected the plea and was proceeding with a trial on the charge of first-degree murder.
“This case isn’t about whether he inflicted the injuries which caused her to die. He did. It will be admitted in an agreed statement of facts tomorrow. What this trial is about is what he intended when he caused the injuries,” Olesko explained.
“His intent to cause her death while forcibly confining her meaning she couldn’t get away or get help would make him guilty of first-degree murder.”
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The Crown said it’s expected the jury will hear from Walker’s brother, who called 911 after Carland came asking for help because he thought his girlfriend was dead. When he went into his brother’s bedroom, he didn’t find a pulse and started CPR before calling 911.
Olesko said firefighters and paramedics are also expected to testify about what they saw. Police will say Walker originally told them that Aminzadah showed up at his apartment in the middle of the night and collapsed on his floor. But video evidence will show he is not telling the truth.
Forensic investigators will also testify about what they found on the floor in the bedroom — an HDMI cable, a broken broom stick and two darts. “The Crown will say that was used to cause some of the injuries,” Olesko told the jury, adding they also found packing tape with hair and blood on it.
A forensic pathologist is expected to testify that Aminzadah, who was 36 years old, died of multiple blunt force and sharp force injuries She also suffered over 100 punctures to her back.
“He forcibly confined her in that bedroom and used packing tape to do that. He intended to cause her death or at very least knew it would cause bodily harm and was reckless,” Olesko said.
Dirk Derskine, Walker’s lawyer, gave his own opening address warning jurors that this would be a difficult case.
“Not only did Carland Walker cause her death but this particular day was not a shocking day because he had beaten her multiple times in the past. It’s a terrible thing that Mr. Walker did, but the question is to decide, did he have the state of mind for murder?”
Derstine said his client will take the stand and admit to all the terrible things he did but will say he had no intention of killing her on that day.
“We’re going to call a pathologist of our own. He will say the mechanism of death is not clear. He’s going to say the nature of the wounds inflicted are not the sort of wounds that would necessarily cause death,” Derstine told jurors, explaining that Walker, who was 24 years old at the time, had no idea that Aminzadah had an underlying medical condition.
Walker has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. The trial continues.
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