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Man accused in brutal sex assault, murder awaits verdict

Oct 31, 2013 | 5:13 PM

A man accused of brutally sexually assaulting and strangling a woman in Prince Albert will wait until Dec. 6 to learn his fate.

The first-degree murder trial of John Shaoulle wrapped up with closing arguments at Court of Queen’s Bench on Thursday.

Crown prosecutor Jeff Lubyk’s final address to the court was comprised of two sections. In the first, he described the gruesome crime scene where Margaret Sewap’s naked body was found on April 8, 2011 behind the Bolt Supply Store on 17th Street East.

She was in a semi-fetal position, said Lubyk, with blood on her face and genital area. He then referred to an autopsy report that concluded she had suffered a significant laceration to her anus and rectum, soft tissue damage to her scalp, abrasions on her forehead and contusions inside her mouth.

The report also said she had burns on 18-25 per cent of her body and that the cause of death was manual strangulation.

After Lubyk had summarized the brutality of the sexual assault and murder he moved on to the second part of his closing argument, presenting evidence that Shaoulle was the individual who committed the crime.

Although it was mostly circumstantial in nature, Lubyk said the “totality of the evidence” points to Shaoulle as the perpetrator.

He drew the court’s attention to a video that shows Shaoulle and Sewap together at the National Hotel on April 7, 2011, proving the two were together the night before she died.

He also pointed to Shaoulle’s “post-offense conduct.” He returned home to Joy Charles’ house, the woman he lived with, on the evening of April 8, 2011 and demanded that all of the clothing he was wearing be washed.

This was out of character for Shaoulle, said Charles, who also testified that she saw scratches on his knuckles and shoulder. She said he exhibited other behaviour that she had never seen before, which Lubyk told the court was indicative of Shaoulle’s guilt.

Shaoulle also discussed methods of body disposal with an undercover officer after he was arrested that echoed some of the aspects of Sewap’s murder.

Lubyk did refer to one piece of physical evidence; what was likely Shaoulle’s DNA was found under the fingernails of Sewap.

However Shaoulle’s defense council, Ian Mokuruk, argued there was no proof that the DNA ended up there during the commission of the murder. He referred to the same video at the National Hotel where the two were seen holding hands and said the DNA could have been transferred then.

During his closing argument, Mokuruk said the crown was relying too heavily on circumstantial evidence.

One of the biggest problems with crown’s case, he said, is that they can’t account for the whereabouts of Shaoulle between 10:15 p.m. April 7, and 3:45 a.m. the next morning. Shaoulle showed up at the Victoria Hospital’s detox centre at that time.

They also can’t account for Sewap’s whereabouts between their departure from the hotel and when her body was found at around 6 a.m.

Mokuruk said this gap leaves too many questions about what they were doing during that time and if they stayed together after leaving the hotel.

He also noted that there was no definitive time of death, meaning if she was killed anytime after 3:45 a.m., Shaoulle couldn’t have been responsible because he was at the detox centre.

The absence of any DNA on the scene also points to Shaoulle’s innocence, said Mokuruk. Despite a rape kit being performed and the scene being carefully examined by investigators, of the 37 samples sent for analysis only the fingernail samples were positive for Shaoulle’s DNA.

Mokuruk ended his address by saying there was no motive, no exclusive opportunity, no witnesses and enormous evidentiary gaps.

Shaoulle is back in court on Dec. 6 for the verdict.

sleslie@panow.com

On Twitter: @_seanleslie