When police began investigating Mark Twitchell in connection with the disappearance of an Edmonton man, they found bloodied items in his house and car within days of starting their search.
Police Const. Gary Short took the witness stand in Twitchell’s first degree murder trial on Thursday, showing court dozens of photographs taken at Twitchell’s home, in his car, and at the garage Twitchell had rented in Mill Woods in mid-October 2008.
Among the items photographed were a pair of blood-stained jeans found on the floor of Twitchell’s cluttered St. Albert home and blood stains found on the carpet liner of Twitchell’s trunk. The car, which had the licence plate DRKJEDI, was then handed over to a blood spatter expert for further investigation.
Twitchell was being investigated in connection with the disappearance of Johnny Altinger, a 38-year-old man, who had been reported missing by his friends on Oct. 17, 2008. His friends believed they had last had contact with him on Oct. 10, 2008, when he said he was going to meet a woman he had met on the Internet for a date.
Twitchell is on trial for first-degree murder in connection with Altinger’s death.
Short and his partners searched Twitchell’s St. Albert home looking for items potentially relevant to their investigation, he told court. His team photographed items such as four “Japanese-style” swords found in several locations in the home, a box that contained an air pistol and a cardboard box for an electric stun baton.
Short described Twitchell’s car, a Pontiac Grand Am, as “extremely cluttered,” with items such as a gym bag, clothing, a backpack, and a book dealing with the television show Dexter filling the small vehicle.
In opening arguments on Thursday, court heard that Twitchell was an aspiring filmmaker who had made a short horror film about a man who was lured to his death by another man who posed as a woman on the Internet, but who ultimately killed him.
Crown prosecutors have alleged Twitchell carried out that act in real life, by using an Internet dating website to invite Altinger to the garage he used as a film studio. They have alleged Twitchell killed him, then gruesomely disposed of his body.
The trial continues Thursday afternoon.
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