Accused in N.W.T. Mountie's death had gun: witnesses

An Alberta man accused of killing an RCMP officer in October 2007 was seen with a handgun in the days and hours before the Mountie's death, several witnesses told an N.W.T. Supreme Court jury Thursday.

Emrah Bulatci, 25, is on trial in Yellowknife for first-degree murder in the death of Const. Christopher Worden, 30, in Hay River in the early-morning hours of Oct. 6, 2007.

Testimony from Crown witnesses began Wednesday afternoon after Bulatci tried unsuccessfully to plead guilty to manslaughter.

His lawyer later told the 12-person jury that Bulatci, a drug dealer, has admitted shooting Worden, but he did not intend to kill the police officer.

On Thursday, four witnesses testified they saw Bulatci and two male associates at 55 Woodland Dr., where a drinking party had been taking place upstairs, in the late-night hours before Worden was shot.

Bulatci and the two men he was travelling with kept to themselves downstairs, but two of the witnesses recalled seeing Bulatci with a silver handgun that night.

The Crown said Worden stopped at 55 Woodland moments before he was gunned down around 5 a.m. on Oct. 6.

One of the witnesses told the jury he didn't hear gunshots that night but he saw an empty police cruiser parked in front of the house the next morning.

Associates 'rattled,' witness says

On Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning,  the jury heard testimony from Tom Embleton, who said Bulatci and the two other men regularly stayed at his own home in the days leading up to Worden's death.

Embleton, 58, told the court that Bulatci — who was going by the name "Justin" — and the men used his stove to turn powdered cocaine into crack, and Bulatci gave Embleton crack in exchange for them staying at his place.

Embleton said he asked the trio at one point if they had weapons. He said Bulatci said they did, but the weapons were being kept in their vehicle.

On the morning Worden was killed, Embleton woke up when Bulatci's two partners arrived at his house, looking "quite rattled about something," Embleton testified.