deadmonton - the trial of michael white - december 7th, 2006
Liana White, 29, was stabbed to death July 12th, 2005.
Michael White, now 29, was charged with second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a dead body.
<< december 6th, 2006 | the michael white trial | december 10th, 2006 >>
On the morning of the twenty-first day of the trial of Michael White the jury was still sequestered and trying to reach a verdict.
After deliberating for nearly seven hours the day before, the jury retired for the night and were put up at a hotel.
Media, Edmonton citizens and Michael White continued to wait for word that seven men and five women reached a verdict inside a fourth floor room at Edmonton's Law Courts building.
At noon, the jurors broke for lunch. Shortly after returning they announced they had reached a verdict.
Court officials summoned the various legal parties and alerted the media and public.
As the jurors filed into the courtroom, they consciously avoided looking at Michael White in the prisoner's box.
At 1:30 p.m., the verdict was read.
One juror cried while others clutched tissues.
To the charge of second-degree murder, the jury found Michael White guilty.
To the charge of offering an indignity to a dead body, the jury found Michael White guilty.
A gasp was let throughout the courtroom.
Michael White closed his eyes, rolled his head back on his shoulders, put his hands over his face and looked down.
He then looked briefly at his mother, Carol Forbes, and his stepfather who had come from Ontario to attend the trial.
As White was being led away his mother hugged him good-bye.
White cried softly and repeated, “It’s OK. It’s OK. I love you.”
"Call me," Forbes was heard to say.
Liana's mother, Maureen Kelly, came out from the spectator's area and hugged Crown prosecutor Troy Coulliard.
All told, it took the jurors just ten hours of deliberation over a 24-hour period to render their decision.
White now faces an automatic sentence of life imprisonment, with parole eligibility coming after serving a minimum of ten years.
The jury offered that White have no chance of parole for at least 15 years but the recommendation is not binding.
Court of Queen's Bench Justice Mary Moreau will hear sentencing arguments and victim impact statements on December 13th, and will sentence Michael White on December 15th, 2006.
The story of Michael White continued December 10th, 2006
After the reading of the verdict, a crush of media mobbed the doors of the Law Courts building.
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Maureen Kelly, Liana's mother, could barely take a step outside before questioned of her reaction to the verdict.
Her responses were broadcast to a live television audience as local stations broke into regular programming.
"I'm sad. I'm sad we're here doing this. I'm sad my daughter is gone and Ashley's mom is gone. Because of [White's] mistake, his life is ruined."
"Everything about this is sad."
She was asked about her feelings toward White.
"Do I hate him? I hate what he's done. I have no feelings for him ... I get very angry ... my blood boils."
"I don't know what closure is."
Kelly was asked if she still had questions for her son-in-law.
"How could you? And why? What happened?"
Kelly said she began to suspect White within days of her daughter's disappearance, citing the viewing of the Richard's Pub security video as clinching her suspicions.
There was also a phone call she overheard.
"He was on the phone and said 'Somebody's got my girl and I going to find her.' [And] he did."
Kelly said she thought the jury's parole recommendation was "quite light" and "too soft" for a murder but said she was "very pleased" the jury found White guilty of second-degree murder.
"I felt justice was served," she said, describing the ordeal of the trial "very difficult to handle."
"Thank God for the jury who saw through the smoke and mirrors," Kelly's friend Sheila Perilli offered to reporters.
Kelly, who now has custody of five-year-old Ashley, revealed an aspect of the case that had so far had gone unmentioned but was heavily suspected.
"[Ashley] was in the house that night," she said outside court.
"I believe she saw pieces of it. I don't think she saw everything that happened, but I think she saw clips."
Kelly said her granddaughter still mentions the events of that night.
The evidence the child could have provided was ruled inadmissable through a process called voir dire – a trial within a trial – and the jury never heard it.
Justice Moreau ruled the hearsay statements of such a young child would threaten the fairness of the trial.
"It's not something she'll talk about or answer questions about," Kelly said. "It just comes out."
"Heartbreaking comments."
Media access to court documents shed light on the statements Ashley made between July and October 2005.
When Ashley pushed over a water cooler, family friend Sheila Perilli asked her where she'd seen such behaviour. Ashley said, "When Daddy hit Mommy."
Nearly two months after the slaying, as Ashley was lying in bed with her grandmother, the girl talked about when she was "lying in bed and she heard a noise and she opened her eyes and it was Mommy on the floor. Mommy said, 'No more hitting, Daddy.' And Daddy said, 'Yes, hitting.' "
Her grandmother asked, "Where did Daddy hit Mommy?" Ashley pounded on her tummy with her fist, banged her head against a wall a couple times and said, 'Like that, Grandma.' "
When Kelly was cleaning up a spill with paper towels, Ashley asked, "Did you see the blood on Mommy's neck and her heart stopped and her died?"
While saying this, Ashley motioned with her finger across her neck and down her chest.
At another time Ashley came running out of her bedroom and asked Kelly and two of her friends if they had seen blood on the floor.
"Did you see the blood on the floor too?... Daddy cleaned it up with towels."
When Ashley saw her grandmother's friend's husband cutting hamburger buns with a knife, she said she'd "have to go and sleep in the leaves with my mommy."
She talked about sleeping in the leaves with her dolls. She said she takes their clothes off and buries them in the leaves.
At the time of the funeral, Kelly and Perilli drove to the area where Liana's body was found.
Ashley told them, "I've been here. My daddy took me here."
Police conducted two interviews with Ashley, but the child was unable to repeat some of the comments Maureen said she heard her make.
"My dad loves me. He's gone away," Ashley said in one police interview. She said her mommy was in heaven wearing a white dress.
A child psychiatrist diagnosed the girl with post-traumatic stress disorder, and was experiencing symptoms including night terrors, severe tantrums and aggressive play themes.
Kelly said Ashley also asks where her father is. "I tell her he his gone to a safe place where he is learning how to be safe," said Kelly.
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Crown prosecutor Troy Couillard was asked by reporters what he felt was key to obtaining the conviction.
"It was a strong case for the Crown," said a smiling Couillard. "The evidence of the DNA was pretty compelling."
Defence lawyers Laura Stevens and Robert Shaigec left without comment as did White's mother, Carol Forbes, and his stepfather.
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Local media returned to the Castle Downs neighbourhood the Whites called home for more than a year.
Many who lived near the couple had joined search efforts to locate Liana.
Barb Jama, who lived across the street from her friend, faced media cameras.
"I'm glad that this is over and I'm glad that we can move on."
"I'm glad he was found guilty of second-degree. I'm glad the jury saw through his lies."
Jama recalled her friendship with Liana.
"We talked all the time. And I was one of the last people to talk to her on the Monday night before she went missing. I've been in shock for the last year-and-a-half."
Neighbour Noreen Day assessed the mood of those living on Warwick Crescent.
"We're very happy he got second-degree murder. Anything less – I don't know what would have happened."
"People are pretty upset around here. I think he got what he deserved."
"He took two lives that day and still tries to deny it. I hope we never see him around here again, ever."
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Dena Gallant was behind a petition drive calling for Michael White's bail to be revoked.
After the verdict she was questioned by Global Edmonton.
"Clearly the jury made the right decision and because they've done that I feel very good and satisfied that justice was served in this case."
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Interviewed by CTV's David Ewasuk, White supporter Pastor Robert Scott of the Freedom Church of God read from a prepared statement.
"We remain confident that the truth will prevail in spite of this temporary injustice."
When asked what the truth was Scott responded, "The truth ... ah ... let's just say the truth that he's innocent."
Global Edmonton's Kendra Slugoski tried to interview White's mother and stepfather who were staying at the couple's former residence.
While declining an interview, Global's cameras captured a woman's response to the media attention the case attracted.
"You've done the dirty work from the beginning and it was you that helped convict him."
The story of Michael White continued December 10th, 2006
Remembering Liana White
The Real Michael White