Watch the video above: the trial for a murder dating back to 1992 ends with the fate of the accused now in the hand of the judge
SASKATOON – Enock Quewezance’s future is in the hands of a judge as his trial came to a close on Friday in Saskatoon.
The court heard closing arguments in the decades old cold case.
In 2011, the homicide case of Ernie Taypotat was reopened when DNA testing found a match with the national data bank, which resulted in a charge of second-degree murder against 41-year-old Enock Quewezance.
The murder happened in the 400-block of Avenue T South in August 1992.
Taypotat, 22, was found dead with half a dozen stab wounds and his hand clenched around several strands of hair.
Originally, a man named Reynold Assiniboine was charged with the murder but the charge was stayed when Assiniboine’s DNA didn’t match the hair.
Decades later, a DNA match reopened the case and Quewezance was charged.
His mother, Judy Quewezance, was in court on Friday.
“It was a surprise to me when he was on the news and I heard he was up for murder,” she explained.
Quewezance and Taypotat, were not known to each other.
Quewezance’s lawyer Morris Bodnar explained to the judge that, as strangers, his client would have no motive to kill Taypotat.
According to Bodnar, Quewezance saw the bloodied man and was acting as a good Samaritan when he tried to help.
“All too often now when they find DNA evidence they think it’s the be all and the end all, and it isn’t,” Bodnar said.
“It’s just a piece of evidence.”
Both Bodnar and Quewezance’s mom maintain he’s innocent.
“It’s not true, he’s not that kind of a guy,” said Quewezance’s mother.
The Crown is reserving comment until a decision is made.
The trial began on March 3.
The witness list contained 18 names including the original investigators called to the crime scene in 1992, as well as an undercover officer who was placed with Quewezance in 2011 to illicit a confession.
The judge said there is lots of evidence to go through in the case and he will render his decision on May 6.
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