Accused killer of St. Albert senior cross-examines victim's daughter during 1st-degree murder trial
A woman charged with first-degree murder cross-examined the daughter of the man she is accused of killing on Thursday.
Beryl Musila is representing herself in a six-week jury trial before Edmonton's Court of King's Bench. The jury was sworn in on Tuesday.
Crown prosecutors allege Musila drugged and killed 75-year-old Ronald Worsfold in his St. Albert apartment suite where she was also living on July 7, 2017.
In outlining the Crown's case to the jury, prosecutor Patricia Hankinson alleged that the following day, Musila placed the senior's body in a blue Rubbermaid tub and transported it to several locations, ultimately leaving it in a forested area on a rural property in Parkland County.
But before she left the suite, Ronald Worsfold's daughter Stacey Worsfold, arrived at the apartment building and spoke with Musila, the jury heard.
Stacey Worsfold was called as a witness by Crown prosecutors on Wednesday, and testified that she saw Musila in the window of her father's apartment suite and then spent the next several hours waiting for her to leave.
She told the jury that Musila told her that she and Ronald Worsfold had had a fight and that he was gone for a walk, and that Musila would periodically call down from the window that she was cleaning and packing her things to leave.
She said Musila wouldn't let her in the suite, and that eventually people began arriving, bringing suitcases and a large Rubbermaid container.
Musila cross-examined Stacey Worsfold for about 15 minutes on Thursday, asking her questions about their exchange that day while she was in the suite and Stacey Worsfold was in the parking lot.
Musila put it to Stacey Worsfold that she didn't actually ask her if she would let her into the building.
"That would be a lie," the witness replied.
Musila also asked about steps she took to get inside.
"When I refused to leave or I denied you entry, did you call police?" Musila asked.
"I just wanted you gone," the daughter replied.
"I didn't care. I wasn't leaving until you were gone. Or my dad returned and said you could stay," she said.
RCMP officers who processed the scene at the apartment after Ronald Worsfold was determined to be missing and possible blood stains were discovered also testified Thursday.
The officers also testified about arriving at the rural property in Parkland County where the senior's remains were discovered in a Rubbermaid tub, along with other evidence – including a knife blade.
Crown prosecutors have said they plan to call nearly 50 witnesses in the trial. On Tuesday, Musila pleaded guilty to indecent interference with human remains, but maintained her not-guilty plea to the first-degree murder charge.
