Crown goes after Marissa Shephard's 'self-serving' testimony at murder trial

Marissa Shephard gave self-serving and inconsistent testimony as the only defence witness at her murder trial, Crown prosecutors said Friday in their closing arguments.

Shephard, 22, is charged with first-degree murder and arson with disregard for human life in the stabbing death of teenager Baylee Wylie.

Wylie's stabbed and burned body was found Dec. 17, 2015, by firefighters responding to a call at Shephard's townhouse at 96 Sumac St. in Moncton.

Prosecutor Annie St. Jacques said the Crown's theory is that the many stab wounds on Wylie's body were inflicted by Marissa Shephard, along with Devin Morningstar and Tyler Noel, who have already been convicted of murder.

Finds story not backed up

Shephard testified in her own defence earlier this week, saying she was out with escort clients when the stabbing attack was launched on her friend Baylee Wylie and was in an upstairs bedroom of her house when the 18-year-old died.

But St. Jacques said Shephard could not offer any names, times or places to back up her story about being away from the house when the attack began.

The Crown also disputed a statement by defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux in his own closing arguments.

Lemieux said a DNA expert found a sample of Shephard's DNA, but despite all the crime scene photos, there was no photo to show where the DNA was found.

Account in conflict with autopsy

Lalonde pulled out an exhibit and showed a photo of where a sample belonging to "MS" was found.

He also pointed to what he said were inconsistencies in Shephard's account of the drug-fuelled night Wylie was slain, when he, Noel, Morningstar were all in her New Brunswick housing unit. 

For example, Shephard testified that after she came back from her second escort call that night, Wylie was not wearing a shirt, and "bong smoke" was coming out of a wound in his lung.

Lalonde said evidence photos show Wylie wearing a shirt. And Dr. Ather Naseemuddin, who performed the autopsy, said  he could not see the lung wound because it was small. He knew the lung was punctured because it was collapsed.

Lalonde also cited the testimony of next door neighbour Patria Mandy, who heard fighting that night and the voices of a male aggressor, another male and a female voice. Mandy heard talking and laughing coming from the apartment later that night.

A 'so-called' friend

A normal person innocent of killing a "so-called friend" and of having anything to do with the fire that followed would call police or firefighters for help, St. Jacques said.

But Shephard's behaviour after the killing was not like that. A video, taken at a convenience store on Dec. 17 shows her being "friendly" with Morningstar and Noel and not indicating she wanted to distance herself from them, St. Jacques said.

She said the most telling thing Shephard said in her testimony came from after the murder, when she and Noel were at Morningstar's apartment and discussing killing him and another friend, Bailey Fillmore, who had been at the Sumac Street house for part of the night.

"No, we are not killing anyone else Tyler," the Crown quoted Shephard as saying. "We are not killing anyone else".

Defence sees lack of evidence

Lemieux told the jury earlier that there is a lack of evidence linking Shephard to Wylie's murder because she wasn't present when he was killed.

Lemieux said Shephard had no motive to kill Wylie because he was important to her. She couldn't have committed the crime anyway, the lawyer said.  

"It wasn't an accident, it isn't luck, and it isn't magic … she simply wasn't present for the murder … she wasn't there."

Lemieux spent the entire morning going through the Crown's evidence, saying much of it was there for "volume not value."

With item after item, he told the jury, there was no physical evidence that tied Shephard to the murder.

Lemieux conceded that a DNA expert did find a sample of Shephard's DNA, but said that despite all the crime scene photos, there was no photo to show where the DNA was found.

Couldn't challenge Morningstar

He also tackled statements made to police by Morningstar, who said Shephard took part in the stabbing attack.

Lemieux called Morningstar an unsavoury witness whose story had inconsistencies. The defence could not challenge or cross-examine Morningstar because he refused to testify, the lawyer said..

"This leaves you to be the cross-examiners," he told the jurors.

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Lemieux also noted that the Crown asked Shephard almost no questions when it had the chance to cross-examine her. He called this a tactical move.

Wrapping up his arguments, he asked if the jury believes a 20-year-old, drug-addicted hooker committed the perfect murder.

Judge Zoël Dionne is expected to give his charge to the jury on Monday.