Mountie's last calls played at murder trial

The final radio calls of RCMP Const. Christopher Worden, who was shot to death in Hay River, N.W.T., two years ago, were played Friday at the trial of the Mountie's accused killer.

A 12-person N.W.T. Supreme Court jury heard the recordings, which came from the Yellowknife RCMP dispatch centre handling calls for police in Hay River in the early-morning hours of Oct. 6, 2007, when Worden was shot four times.

Worden, 30, was originally from Ottawa and had been working as an RCMP officer in the Northwest Territories since 2002. He had been stationed in Hay River, a town of about 3,650 near the N.W.T.-Alberta border, since 2005.

Emrah Bulatci, a 25-year-old Alberta man who was dealing drugs in Hay River, is charged with first-degree murder in Worden's death.

When Bulatci's trial started on Wednesday, his lawyer acknowledged that Bulatci did shoot Worden, but did not intend to kill the officer.

On Friday, court was told that just after 4 a.m. MT on Oct. 6, Worden had contacted the police dispatcher to say he was going off-duty, but would be on-call for another two hours.

Less than one hour after that call, the dispatcher called Worden at home to relay a call for assistance regarding a man who was threatening to commit suicide.

The recording captured a groggy-sounding Worden saying, "I'll suit up and I'll let you know when I'm on the road."

About 20 minutes later, the dispatcher contacted Worden to tell him there was another complaint, this time about people throwing rocks at a house in a different part of Hay River.

In his final call, made around 5:30 a.m., Worden said he was still looking for the suicidal man and would not be able to respond right away.

"I'm going to be 10-7 at 55 Woodland trying to locate that first individual," he said. The police code "10-7" meant he was going to that address.

The public housing unit at 55 Woodland Dr. belonged to Rachel Martel, a relative of the suicidal man.

Several witnesses have already testified that Bulatci was at 55 Woodland that night, keeping to himself downstairs while an all-night party was taking place upstairs.

Some of those witnesses told the jury that Bulatci had a gun with him that night.

Worden was found later that morning, lying in a treed area about 50 metres away from the house.

The radio tapes were the last items of evidence the jury heard before being dismissed for the weekend. The trial continues on Monday.