TORONTO – Tori Stafford was her “bubbly little self” that day she was abducted, the victim’s former teacher told a London, Ont. courtroom Tuesday.
Tori’s former teacher, Jennifer Griffin-Murrell described the hours before Stafford was abducted while crying on the stand, saying the child left school late the day of the abduction after going back into the school to retrieve her butterfly earrings that she had forgot.
Murrell is the first witness to testify in the trial of Michael Rafferty who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Tori Stafford.
Murrell was one of the last people to see Tori before she was abducted on April 8, 2009.
During her testimony, Murrell described her former student as “bubbly, enthusiastic and very dramatic,” adding that Tori was “just a lovely little girl.”
Standing outside of the courtroom, surrounded by media, Tori’s father, Rodney Stafford, spoke about Murrell’s testimony, saying Tori’s former teacher described Tori perfectly. “The way she explained Victoria is the way I myself couldn’t because she saw Victoria on a daily basis whereas I didn’t. And she explained Victoria to a tee. That little happy girl, mother hen – perfect, perfect. That’s how she was with her smaller cousins too.”
Stafford also pleaded with the media to keep the attention on his daughter rather than the man accused, Michael Rafferty. “I want to make the point that this is what its about, its about Tori, its about my little girl. Its not about the accused monster on the inside,” Stafford said.
After a short afternoon break, Ontario Provincial Police Det. Robin Brocanier, a video expert with the OPP, took the stand to answer questions about the infamous video of Tori being led away from her Woodstock school by a person in a white coat. Brocanier described the person shown in the video as ‘a person of interest,’ though said it was impossible to positively identify the person because of the low-quality resolution of the security camera footage.
A brief delay kept court from beginning on time on Tuesday, the second such delay in as many days.
The judge said on Tuesday that the delay was caused by a worrying Facebook post by an alleged relative of a juror who made disparaging comments about Rafferty.
It was later confirmed that the poster on Facebook had no connection to any sitting juror.
Tori’s disappearance in April, 2009 caused a massive, province wide search for the missing girl. She was found over 100 days later after in a field near Mount Forest, Ontario.
Michael Rafferty has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
The trial is expected to last close to three months, and is under heavy security.
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