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Here's what Michael and Liana's house at 227 Warwick Crescent was like ... beginning at the very bottom and working up:

The main area of the lowest level was a fairly good-sized rec room. To the right was a laundry room with a small, empty freezer at the far end. The freezer was clean, as though it had been never used.

Also to the right was a small bathroom with a tub and shower. An assortment of men-only toiletry items indicated Michael and Liana had separate bathrooms and this was his.

To the right as well was a small storage area where Michael kept his golf clubs and military memorabilia.

To the left of the rec room was a dimly-lit utility room containing the furnace and hot-water heater. It was here, in a cavity of sorts in the wall (call it a poor-man's shelving system), where the White family stored their Christmas decorations. They were in large cardboard boxes.

There were no windows in the deepest level of the house.

On the walls of the rec room were a number of framed photos of trooper Michael White posing with his army buddies, all wearing battle fatigues. It was hard to pick out White because the soldiers wore black camouflage make-up.

Wooden steps led up from the rec room to the TV room. There, to the right, was a brick fireplace. Just above the mantel was a large framed picture of Michael and Liana. On the mantel itself, some family pictures.

To the right of the fireplace was a large TV, set tight in an entertainment centre unit.

The White family had an assortment of VHS tapes and DVDs. Liana and Michael had their family movies, Michael had his action movies and Ashley her childrens DVDs.

Some DVDs were also stored in a small cabinet on the main level, near the entranceway to the kitchen.

I came across no National Geographic or sports DVDs. I also didn't find any travel DVDs, like "Debbie Does Dallas."

The two small sofas and a large square coffee table were clean and in good shape.

It was at the other end of the TV room where Michael White, after he got out on bail, had push-pinned small pieces of paper onto a corkboard.

Each scrap of paper, with key words highlighted by a flourescent marker, detailed information White felt was important to his defence.

The notes on the board mirrored those White entered in a booklet – see images »

On each of the two windows that faced the backyard were metal security bars to help prevent a house break-in. Michael White said the bars were there when he and Liana bought the house.

To the left was a small room, which Liana used as an office. Here was a small desk, filing cabinet and bookshelf.

A flight of carpeted stairs with hand-railings on either side led to the main floor (ground level). If one veered left, you would be at the main door of the house.

There was also a screen door. The entranceway was small, with a closet to the right as you walked in.

Up on the wall, facing visitors as they came in to the house, was a large framed wedding photograph of Michael and Liana.

There was no door from the house leading directly to the garage.

To get to the garage from the house, one had to go through the front door and step outside. The garage could be entered through a small side door, or by opening the main garage door.

In the small living room on the main level were two small couches.

To the right was a dining area with an oval table surrounded by four wooden chairs. Up against the far north wall sat a wooden china cabinet that had two glass-doors on the top half.

To the right of the dining room was the kitchen. It was spacious, but not large.

Anyone peering out the kitchen window, over a double-sink, looked straight at the side of a neighbour's house. It was perhaps ten feet away.

From the main floor, heading up the stairs, there's a full size bathroom to the left (that was Liana's) and straight ahead, the master bedroom.

Most of the space in the bedroom was taken up by a wood-framed queen-sized bed. Michael slept on the left, Liana on the right.

The east wall had a large split window.

Only two feet of walking space separated Liana's side of the bed and the east-facing wall.

White's civil lawyer, Marilyn Burns, would point out that both Liana and Mike were good-sized people and the area where they allegedly struggled was as wide as a night table.

As well, she said, the window and some of the wall beneath it was covered by a long, plastic blind. She says an investigation by police found no blood on the window covering – and no blood on the bed.

Burns says she'd like to review the Luminol spots found between Michael and Liana's bedroom to the entrance of the house.

The master bedroom had two dresser-drawers, one tall and one short. The taller of the two dressers was immediately to the left, as one entered the room. The smaller one was several feet from the foot of the bed, up against a wall, with a large mirror on top.

On Michael's side of the bed was a small corridor which led to the bathroom Liana used. The corridor was also a storage area for hygiene products.

On the same floor and on the other side of the hallway was Ashley's bedroom and a guest room.

Ashely's room had been stripped bare by the time Michael White and his step-father drove home from the Remand Centre. A light spot on the carpet showed where the child's small bed had been.

The upper hallway led out back to a split-level wooden porch and deck.

The back yard was large with neatly-cut grass. At the far end of the property was an old, rickety bench.

The yard was fenced in. There was no back alley.

Reporters and lawyers were not the only visitors to Michael and Liana White's house.

Friends of Michael's who looked after his dog also looked after his house (they too had keys). They dropped by from time-to-time to check on the place, take in the mail, water the plants and cut the grass.

While I searched in the house as much as I could, I did not "turn the place upside down." Papers, cards and documents I removed for copying – aside from White's diary – were returned to where I found them.

I was puzzled by a portrait of a young blonde girl, resting on a small old-fashioned radio cabinet, to the left of the main door. I hadn't noticed it before. I picked up the picture and looked at it. The kid didn't look like Ashley.

The photo was the daughter of a young woman, who along with her boyfriend, had been charged in connection with severe child abuse. Some reporters dubbed it the "torture case" because the child had been physically abused, tied up and denied food and water.

Turns out, the mother (in her early 20s, I'd say) was staying at Michael and Liana's house. She was waiting for her trial to begin in Court of Queen's Bench.

Michael White told me he didn't know the woman and he wasn't aware of the charges against her. He said the woman was a friend of a co-worker and she needed a place to stay.

He figured that since his house was sitting empty, "Why not?"

The young woman's boyfriend got prison time. She got house arrest for essentially allowing the abuse to go on.

During a break in the trial, I had a few words with the woman. She confirmed she had stayed at Michael and Liana White's house.

I asked if she was afraid to be in the house, given the murder allegations. She smiled and said, "No."

The young blonde girl, the one in the picture frame, is now in the care of Aberta Social Services. She has been taken away permanently from her mother.

The Public Trustee told the woman to find another place to live.

After this encounter it occurred to me that crime reporters could save on gas money by opening a bureau in the house: there was the Michael White case, accused-killers like Joe Laboucan were phoning from the Remand Centre ... and a woman accused of being a party to severe child abuse was staying in the house.

I wrapped up my search of Michael White's house after I found out the young woman was staying there. At that point I had no idea of who owned what.

I had searched enough anyway.

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deadmonton - michael white - the untold story - 26