Jurors listened to testimony in a first-degree murder trial that began this week in Medicine Hat.
The man on trial, Robert Hoefman, is accused of stabbing 63-year-old James Satre to death in front of his home in October 2017.
The victim’s neighbour, Joseph Dolan — a visually impaired man who testified he sees nothing but complete darkness — said he was walking his dog when he discovered Satre’s body on the ground. He said his dog alerted him to something and when he got close enough, he could tell it was a body and called 911.
He told police, in a video-taped interview played for the jury, that the body was not there when he left his house with his dog, but he discovered it on the way back.
However, during cross-examination, the defense pointed out several inconsistencies with Dolan’s testimony, including things he said he saw the day Satre was killed, like describing Satre’s eyes being half closed when he found him, the lights being on in Satre’s home and descriptions of a vehicle in the area.
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The defense said it was pretty detailed testimony for a man who claims he can’t see anything.
The defense also stated Dolan would ask to borrow things from his neighbour, including marijuana, which Dolan said he did, but he did not recall asking to borrow money from Satre.
According to CHAT News, jurors heard on day one that Satre’s body was found the day after a Medicine Hat business man, who can’t be identified due to a publication ban, got an anonymous letter demanding one million dollars. The letter threatened if the money didn’t come, dozens of people would die, including small children, the jurors heard.
The letter read in part: “We are ready to kill any one of them so my advice to you is pay attention and do as you are told, or my guys will go in for the kill and that is one thing they love to do.”
The letter also said hearing that an individual was brutally murdered on the radio should be enough to know the threat is real.
The judge and jury trial is scheduled to run for seven weeks.
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