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PICTOU, N.S. – The judge presiding over the Amber Kirwan murder trial in Nova Scotia has told the jury not to let prejudice, sympathy or fear sway their judgment in assessing Christopher Alexander Falconer’s guilt or innocence.
Falconer has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of the 19-year-old woman, who vanished in October 2011 after leaving a pool hall in downtown New Glasgow in the early hours of Oct. 9, 2011.
Her naked, bound remains were found about a month later in a shallow grave in nearby Heathbell.
Judge Nick Scaravelli is delivered his final instructions to the jury today after three weeks of testimony in the province’s Supreme Court in Pictou.
Scaravelli told the jurors to give fair and impartial consideration to all the evidence presented and ignore news media reports as they begin deliberations.
He said the jury is encouraged to come to a unanimous verdict, but they are allowed not to reach one, adding that the 31-year-old Falconer is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Scaravelli excused one of the jurors on Monday, leaving a jury of six men and six women to deliberate.
*With a file from Natasha Pace
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