Last witnesses testify in N.W.T. Mountie murder trial

The last of more than 50 witnesses in the trial of an Alberta man accused of killing an RCMP officer in the Northwest Territories testified Friday morning in a Yellowknife courtroom.

Emrah Bulatci, 25, is charged with first-degree murder in the Oct. 6, 2007, shooting death of Const. Christopher Worden in Hay River, N.W.T.

Earlier in the trial, which began Oct. 21, Bulatci tried unsuccessfully to plead guilty to manslaughter in Worden's death. He has acknowledged shooting at Worden, who was trying to arrest him early that morning, but did not intend to kill the police officer.

On Friday, defence lawyers called up the last three witnesses, who talked about taking part in a re-enactment of the shooting.

The re-enactment was organized by Bulatci's lawyers in order to call into question earlier testimony of a teenage girl who claimed she had seen the shooting.

The private investigator who led the re-enactment told the court it was too dark to see the shooting from where the girl said she was standing.

But under cross-examination by the Crown, the investigator admitted the re-enactment was carried out a half-hour earlier than the time the shooting actually occurred. As a result, the lighting would have been slightly different.

The investigator also acknowledged that bushes in the re-enactment area were thicker than they were in crime-scene photos taken shortly after Worden was killed.

Lawyers from both sides are scheduled to make closing statements to the jury on Tuesday.