Logan Scott, the Salmon Arm man accused of manslaughter in connection with the death of a 27-year-old Armstrong woman, was back in court on Monday.
It’s been more than three years since a neighbour heard Jillian McKinty’s twin sons crying and found her dead body in the family’s Armstrong residence.
On Monday, court continued hearing what’s called a voir dire, which aims to determine whether certain evidence can be used at trial.
During the voir dire lawyers are expected to argue over the admissibility of DNA evidence, evidence from Scott’s cellphone and his statements to police. Scott’s lawyers are expected to argue that the way evidence was gathered breached Scott’s Charter rights.
“There may be arguments made at the end of the voir dire about whether or not the statements were voluntary and that is, of course, the crown who has to prove voluntariness,” said Scott’s lawyer Glenn Verdurmen.
On Monday morning, court viewed a video of one of Scott’s police interviews.
In the video he discussed originally meeting McKinty on dating website Plenty of Fish several years prior. The pair met up a handful of times, but had not seen each other for years before a chance meeting led to him going over to her house, around the time of her November 2013 death, to help her install some computer software.
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In the video Scott denies killing McKinty and said he wasn’t there when she died.
The interviewer went over Scott’s text message and internet history with him and pressed him on when he searched the phrase “What happens to someone who is choked to death?”
Scott said it was not before he went to McKinty’s home.
On the tape Scott is also heard talking about wanting to speak with a lawyer, which may form part of the defence argument about why some or all of his statements to police shouldn’t be admissible.
What is allowed into the trial and what is excluded will have an impact on the case.
“It is fairly important and central to this trial,” said Verdurmen.
Verdurmen believes the voir dire will last for another three days.
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