Watch above: toxicologist testifies at Douglas Hales murder trial
SASKATOON – The Douglas Hales trial entered its fourth week in a Saskatoon courtroom on Monday.
Accused of killing 25-year old married mother of one Daleen Bosse in May of 2004, Hales has been charged with first-degree murder and offering an indignity to human remains.
For the last several weeks, court has heard during the trial that Hales choked Bosse in the early morning hours of May 18, 2004 and lit her on fire in a wooded area north of Saskatoon.
“I felt, ah, all the anger out of everyone that’s f#*ked around with me, I f#*king took it out on her,” said Hales, transcribed from the audio recording during an RCMP sting operation when Hales led undercover officers to the remains on Aug. 7, 2008.
On Monday, Hales’ defence team called their first witness who would tell a different story of how Bosse may have died.
Wayne Jeffery, a toxicologist, testified that by his calculations the night Bosse died her blood alcohol level was in the range of between .48 and .53 after she drank 26 ounces of hard liquor at one point. A lethal range said Jeffery, that could have resulted in alcohol poisoning causing Bosse’s death.
Last week, court viewed a police interrogation video which is not yet considered evidence. In the video, Hales told officers he did not intend to kill Bosse but at some point when they were drinking together that night, she stopped talking, moving and he thought he had killed her with alcohol when he couldn’t find a pulse.
Jeffery testified that an intoxicated person may inaccurately check a person’s pulse however someone considered an “experienced drinker” may be capable. In earlier trial testimony it has been revealed that Hales was an alcoholic.
During cross- examination, Jeffery testified that there was no way of knowing if the three medications prescribed to Bosse were taken the day of her murder. He testified that if she had taken them there would have been little to no effect when combined with alcohol.
Jeffery would also testify that the most accurate way to determine a person’s blood alcohol level would be through a blood sample.
On Tuesday, Hales’ lawyer Bob Hyrcan plans on calling a psychologist to testify. It is still not known if Hales will take the stand.
Comments