The trial of a Campbell River woman accused of stabbing her common-law husband to death in their home in 2010 got underway Friday in Campbell River Supreme Court. Linda Mitchell, 53, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second degree murder in the death of Christopher Warren, 55. Mitchell is out on bail.
In his opening statement to a jury of eight women and four men, Crown counsel John Boccabella warned the jury that some of the images they would see and some of the evidence they would hear over the course of the trial would be unpleasant.
The Crown contends that Mitchell stabbed Warren in the back during an argument in the couple’s studio apartment on the afternoon of April 2, 1010.
Warren’s body was discovered – bloody and lying on his bed – by his daughter Erin Warren, who arrived at the apartment to check on her father after her grandmother reported that Warren and Mitchell were arguing.
Mitchell, who was in the apartment at the time, was arrested a short time later, after Erin Warren called police to the scene, Boccabella told the jury.
The cause of death was later determined to be a single stab wound to the middle of Warren’s back.
The Crown’s first witness, Sgt. Shelly Massey was the forensics officer who photographed both Mitchell while she was in police custody, as well as the crime scene. Massey and Crown counsel David Sissons presented approximately 300 photos to the jury.
The trial is expected to last four weeks.