Tori Stafford trial told Crown's key witness is a 'liar'

The lawyer for the man accused of killing Victoria (Tori) Stafford attacked the credibility of the Crown's key witness during his closing address to the jury today, calling Terri-Lynne McClintic an "accomplished liar" with a history of violence and saying she was the engine behind the eight-year-old girl's abduction and murder.

Michael Rafferty, 31, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping. His trial in a London, Ont., court began on March 5.

Defence lawyer Dirk Derstine, who began his closing address this morning and wrapped up shortly before 4 p.m. ET, suggested to the jury that McClintic is "no friend of the truth" and urged the jury members to be dispassionate in deciding the case.

The Crown is expected to begin its closing address tomorrow morning.

McClintic, who pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Tori two years ago, testified earlier in Rafferty's trial, saying she was directed to abduct a little girl on his orders. The 21-year-old said she lured Tori to his Honda Civic on April 8, 2009, shortly after the eight-year-old left Oliver Stephens Public School in Woodstock, Ont.

The pair then drove the girl to Guelph and later to Mount Forest, a small community 100 kilometres north of Woodstock. McClintic told jurors she killed the girl with a hammer after watching Rafferty rape the Grade 3 student.

McClintic, who is serving a life sentence, made a number of statements before the current trial, saying Rafferty delivered the fatal blows.

Derstine said today that McClintic "wilfully, carefully and with real skill attempted — and often succeeded — in misleading police officers."

"Clearly, Ms. McClintic is a prolific and accomplished liar," he said.

Derstine repeatedly questioned McClintic's version of events, pointing out that she changed her story about who killed Tori. He also challenged the Crown's theory that Tori was abducted at random.

"Over and over again, what becomes plain is she’s lying because she does not want to admit her moral culpability in all of this," Derstine said, adding that the only truth is that McClintic killed the girl.

Derstine talked about McClintic's criminal record and dark writing, saying she was like a Jekyll and Hyde, CBC's Steven D'Souza said.

The defence lawyer said the objective evidence points to McClintic, and the rest is just her word.

Simply put, Derstine suggested, McClintic's evidence is not to be trusted. She has lied in the past and she lied to the jury, Derstine said, with one exception.

"I still urge you to find that you could find beyond a reasonable doubt that she was the one who bashed in poor Tori Stafford's head," Derstine said.

Derstine began his closing arguments by thanking the 12-member jury, telling them their role will now change from spectators to decision makers.

Derstine also urged jurors to judge the trial dispassionately saying it has been set against the backdrop of an "unspeakable tragedy."

Derstine has suggested Rafferty was simply a horrified spectator to the abduction and death of the girl and that Terri-Lynne McClintic was the "engine" behind the events on April 8, 2009.

Tori's remains were found more than three months later in a rural area near Mount Forest.

Earlier in the trial, Derstine suggested to McClintic that she took the girl over a "drug debt" and later offered her to Rafferty as a sexual gift, which he rejected. McClintic then killed the eight-year-old while he was away from the car.

Justice Thomas Heeney warned jurors that statements made during closing arguments should not be taken as evidence.

Deborah Murphy, Rafferty's mother, did not speak to media at the time of Tori's disappearance, nor has she attended throughout the trial, but Monday she sat in court for the defence closing submissions and said outside court that Rafferty isn't guilty.

Over the last two months, jurors have heard from 62 witnesses and viewed almost 200 exhibits.

The defence presented its one-day case last week, calling a woman who picked up her grandchildren from Oliver Stephens Public School on the day Tori disappeared.

The woman, who cannot be identified, told jurors she saw a woman matching McClintic's description walk into the school and later saw her walking down the street with a young girl.

McClintic, however, testified that she waited outside the school on April 8, 2009.

The defence did not call any other witnesses, ending speculation Rafferty would testify.