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On February 19th, 2008 Thomas George Svekla – who prefers that his fellow inmates call him "Mr. Hockey Bag" – went on trial in an Edmonton Court of Queen's Bench courtroom to face charges of second-degree murder in connection with the death of Theresa Merrie Innes and second-degree murder in connection with the death of Rachel Liz Quinney.

This page is Part Two of coverage by this site.

March 3rd, 2008
More witnesses describe Svekla's dead body tales.
March 4th, 2008
Svekla's parents take the stand.
March 5th, 2008
Another family member is treated as a hostile witness.
March 6th, 2008
Medical examiners present evidence; Quinney relative barred from trial.

March 3rd, 2008

Week Three of the trial of Thomas Svekla trial began on much the same theme as previous days – testimony from those he told about finding Rachel Quinney's body.

Lavonne Lawrence took the stand and said on June 11th, 2004 Svekla called her on the phone to say something bad had happened.

At about 8 p.m. he came by her west Edmonton home and told her of finding two bodies in the bush while smoking crack with a female acquaintance.

"He was quite emotional. We proceeded to talk some more," Lawrence said. "He was very tired. You could tell he had been crying."

"He looked very upset," she recalled. "I asked him what's wrong and he said 'I'm sure I found two bodies.' "

"He had met a female friend and they were out doing crack and somebody had to pee and that's when he said he had stumbled into the body in the bush," Lawrence said.

Svekla told her one body was "purplish" and "reddish-blue" in colour. When she asked him if it was male or female, he said he couldn't tell because the genitals were missing.

Lawrence's recollection then added a new twist to Svekla's now-familiar tale.

"What he had told me was that the female friend knew who was doing this killing," Lawrence said. "It was a friend of hers, is what he had told me," Lawrence said Svekla told her, referring to the body.

Court also heard from Leslie Kacho. Kacho said he met Svekla through a friend in Peace River around 1999.

Kacho said that in 2004 Svekla also told him that he had tripped over a body. Svekla also told him he had never met Quinney before.

Then in March 2006, Svekla asked him to tow his pickup truck from High Level to his dad's farm near Peace River. At the time Svekla was in jail for violating bail conditions stemming from an earlier assault charge.

"He was a little anxious and panicky sounding; he just wanted to get it out of there right away," Kacho testified.

Svekla was supposed to call to arrange the pickup but he never did, Kacho said.

Kacho also testified that he received a call from Svekla after Innes' body was found in the hockey bag.

Kacho said Svekla told him he did not kill Innes and that someone had placed the bag in his truck while he was in prison.

Svekla also told Kacho he was in trouble with some High Level drug dealers and "they were out to get him."

The court had a short day with Justice Sanderman adjourning the session early – likely to give court staff time to cast ballots in the provincial election.

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March 4th, 2008

Thomas Svekla's mother Emily took the stand in the double-murder trial of her son.

Dressed all in black and stealing occasional glances at the prisoner's box, the woman (seen above in a previously supplied photograph) described the day Thomas arrived back in Fort Saskatchewan in May 2006.

"He was excited to be home. He was glad he was back from High Level," Emily said.

"He was our son Thomas after all," adding the northern community was never really home for him.

Emily said her son unloaded a few small duffle bags and a box of dishes. He announced he was planning to stay in Fort Saskatchewan.

On his first day back home, Svekla ran errands, did some grocery shopping with his mother and went to his sister's place for a wiener roast. The hockey bag containing Theresa Innes was dropped off at his sister's home some time during the day.

Emily said Thomas didn't say anything directly to her about the hockey bag or what it held. He had told his sister, Donna Parkinson, it simply contained compost worms.

The morning after Donna called RCMP about what she found in the bag, Emily Svekla got up around 5:30 a.m. For the woman, the day began as just another usual day. In a matter of minutes it would become the day her life changed forever.

"I had made lunch for both of us because we were going to the city," she recalled. "I think he had a glass of orange juice, but he said he wasn't hungry."

Svekla gathered some paperwork he wanted to take to Edmonton and they both got into her car.

"I was backing out and the RCMP surrounded us right in the driveway," Emily said in a quivering voice.

Svekla was arrested on his parents' front lawn and was soon charged with Innes' death.

Speaking later to her son in jail, Emily told the court of his explanation for possessing the hockey bag.

"He tells me he found it in the back of his truck in High Level where he worked, that's all," she said.

"He sure wasn't himself," Emily said. "He said he found it and he panicked."

"He told me he didn't know the person," she said. "To my knowledge, he never knew her. He told me he never knew her."

Thomas Svekla's father, George, then took the stand. The father related telling his son in May 2006 to leave his house.

"I just didn't want him around my person anymore," George said, seen above later outside court.

George Svekla also testified that he did not know Innes or Quinney and that he knew little about the hockey bag.

Some of the trial's anticipated legal complexities arose when Crown prosecutor Ashley Finlayson wanted to ask George Svekla about the information police believed he had given to a former neighbour, Stella Verhoef.

However, to do that Finlayson had to interrupt Svekla's testimony and put Verhoef (seen above evading reporters) on the stand – resulting in a special hearing called a voir dire (a trial within a trial).

Justice Sterling Sanderman wouldn't be able to consider Verhoef's testimony as admissable unless George Svekla acknowledged that she was telling the truth about what he told her.

George Svekla stepped down from the witness stand and Stella Verhoef was asked to swear in.

Verhoef testified that the elder Svekla had confided in her after she first visited the family to offer condolences about their son's arrest, and later through numerous conversations over the back fence and on the phone during the summer of 2006.

"On the first day he was very upset," Verhoef said of time immediately after Thomas was charged.

She said that George Svekla told her he knew both Therea Innes and Rachel Quinney because his son brought them around and introduced them as his girlfriends.

"He mentioned that he met the victim and he referred to her as Terry," Verhoef told the court.

"He said she was one of Tom's girlfriends and he had met her in Edmonton. And when he moved up to High Level, she had followed him up there."

The former neighbour said Svekla once brought Quinney to his father's job site.

"She was also one of Tom's girlfriends. He'd met her a few times."

Verhoef testified the elder Svekla told her he had talked to his son's friends about Quinney's youth when they visited him at the security post he worked at for IPSCO, a local steelmaker.

"He had mentioned how young she was and she was just jail bait and, shortly after that, she stopped coming around," Verhoef said.

Verhoef also revealed that Svekla's father had doubts about his son's innocence.

"I asked him straight out if he thought his son had done this and he said 'Yes,' " she recalled.

"He had pretty much opened up to me about what happened. I was in shock, absolute shock."

In later conversations George Svekla appeared to have changed his mind. "He told me that he felt that his son was being set up," Verhoef said.

"He told me that had he known about the body, he would have helped him dispose of it to save the family name from all the disgrace," Verhoef testified.

"He said he would have done something like weigh it down and throw it off a bridge."

Verhoef also offered George's insight into gestures Thomas made to media cameras after his arrest in May 2006.

Thomas George Svekla - Edmonton Sun photograph

"He mentioned that when Tom put his finger to his lips ... that was a warning for people in High Level to keep quiet."

Crown prosecuter Ashley Finlayson put George Svekla back on the stand and characterised him as a hostile witness.

Svekla returned by becoming increasingly hostile himself when facing the lawyer's questions about whether he had met Innes or Quinney before.

"Here you are, you're trying to put words in my mouth but it's not going to work, sir. I think I've been around a little longer than you," he growled.

What George Svekla likely didn't know was that Finlayson plays goal in an amateur mens hockey league and was used to having shots lobbed his way – and with much greater velocity.

Unimpressed, the Crown prosecutor kept up his questioning of the senior Svekla.

"Did you ever mention that your son knew Theresa Innes?"

"No," Svekla answered.

"Did you ever mention that your son knew Rachel Quinney?"

"No," Svekla again answered, with rising impatience telling in his voice.

George Svekla admitted having several conversations with Verhoef, but he vehemently denied ever talking to her about Innes or Quinney or that he had met them through his son.

"I didn't mention if he brought any women over," he stated emphatically.

About the remarks made about helping his son dispose of the body, George Svekla told the court it's possible he actually said that.

About the remarks made about Thomas warning folks in High Level, he denied talking about the incident with Verhoef.

But Finlayson had the elder Svekla admit that Innes' body had been at his house, and that it had been wrapped only in a plastic bag at the time.

After the conclusion of George Svekla's testimony, Justice Sterling Sanderman faced having to rule on whether Stella Verhoef's testimony was admissable. When that decision was to come was not brought up during the day's session.

Though the trial had adjourned for the day, one member of the media attempted to put George Svekla's testimony to his own test.

CTV Edmonton's David Ewasuk introduced his supper-hour news piece by saying George Svekla doesn't like media attention, with the man at one point calling journalists "worse than hounds." The CFRN reporter then gave viewers reasons why he may have formed that opinion.

"Can we ask you about your testimony Mr. Svekla?" Ewasuk asked.

"No!" came George Svekla's reply with middle finger extended.

"You seem to have a fairly select memory up there," Ewasuk put forward.

"You gotta," came the reply.

"You gotta have a select memory? How come?" Ewasuk baited.

"Keep your distance, Dave" Svekla warned.

"What?"

"Keep your distance. You hard of hearing?"

Ewasuk could then be seen exchanging a glance with a man trailing Svekla
who shook his head 'No' ...

... causing the Edward R. Murrow award-winning reporter to drift out of camera range.

While some may question Ewasuk's aggressive style of gathering material for the day's story, the greater question is whether the sequence was itself worthy of broadcast.

Did it further coverage of the trial ... or did it serve the interests of the reporter and his station at the tail end of a competitive Bureau of Broadcast Measurement ratings period – for more, see the Ewasuk watch

The day was best summarised by the Edmonton Sun with dramatic use of its customary four-word headline policy.

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March 5th, 2008

Another of Thomas Svekla's sisters took the stand and like her father the day before she was eventually treated as a hostile witness.

Sharyn Durocher, one of Svekla's six sisters (seen above outside court), repeatedly told the court that lately she had been suffering memory problems.

“For the last year now, I can't remember things,” she testified. “Age thing.”

Durocher said she can no longer remember important details from a number of conversations she had with her brother in 2006.

Even when the Crown handed her copies of statements she made to police, the woman said she still had difficulties with her recall.

That caused prosecutor Ashey Finlayson to declare Durcoher a hostile witness, allowing him to cross-examine the woman and challenge her testimony.

The session then became a game of verbal ping-pong, with Finlayson asking questions, Durocher not recalling and the lawyer then quoting her earlier statements.

“I'm having a hard time remembering things,” she kept repeating. “In my statement it says that . . . but I can't remember him telling me that.”

"Have you ever talked to Tom about Therea Innes?" Finlayson asked of his witness.

"No. I don't know. I don't understand your question," Durocher said.

But in September 2006 Durocher told Const. Kevin Kunetzki: "He's called me so many times and that's all we talk about is Theresa."

When confronted with the transcripts, Durocher agreed she was telling the truth when she told police she spoke with her brother at length about Innes.

In her statement to police, Durocher said her brother had claimed the body had been “planted” in his truck and he had brought it to Edmonton because he felt police wouldn't believe him.

“Cause he just got out of jail. He went to his truck and found it and freaked out and didn't know what to do. He didn't want to go to the police because they would have just thrown away the key,” she told Kunetzki.

Court heard Svekla told his sister somebody had broken into the truck and left the body in the cab of his pickup when it was parked behind the Fountain Tire outlet in High Level. A month earlier he had told her the body was found in the back of the truck.

"He said he took all his stuff out of his bag because he wanted to put the body in there ... and he said he wrapped his, what was it, blow-up mattress around the body," Durocher stated in the transcript.

Svekla also told his sister “he wanted to bring the body home,” “he wanted to bring her home,” “she was from Edmonton” and he “just wanted to bring her home to be with her family.”

Under cross-examination from defence lawyer Robert Shaigec, Durocher testified it was possible that Svekla was talking about bringing her to his own home in Fort Saskatchewan – as he had told her he did not know Innes or that she was from Edmonton.

According to her statements, Svekla insisted on placing the hockey bag containing Innes into his mother's car. He asked Sharyn if she thought it would leak, telling her it was full of compost worms.

"He asked me 'Do you think the compost worms are going to leak out into mom's trunk?' and I said no," Durocher said.

And regarding Svekla's famous finger-to-lips gesture to cameras after his arrest, Durocher offered a different explanation than her father on the stand the day before.

After reviewing the transcript, Durcoher testified her brother said: “That he felt like he was a celebrity coming home.”

"We told him to settle down," Sharyn said of the advice she and her husband gave Thomas.

For one local TV station, it seemed their coverage of the day's events would not be complete without the inclusion of another example of their reporter's showmanship.

"Wondering if you have any comments on your testimony," CTV Edmonton's David Ewasuk asked.

"No comment at this time, thank you," came the quick and curt reply from Sharyn Durocher's husband – for more, see the Ewasuk watch.

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March 6th, 2008

The trial of Thomas Svekla shifted into the world of forensic evidence when the Chief Medical Examiner of Alberta took the stand. The day also marked the first handling of the case by Crown prosecutor Marilena Carminati.

Dr. Graeme Dowling testified that no official cause of death could be determined for Rachel Quinney.

"I could not find an actual injury or evidence of natural disease that could account for death," said Dowling.

Quinney suffered no head, neck, chest or abdomen injuries and there were no signs of heavy blows, stabbing or shooting. Bruises or marks from strangulation were either absent or obscured by decomposition which kept Dowling from reaching any definite conclusion on her manner of death.

Dowling told the court he performed an autopsy on Quinney's body a few days after it was found on its back naked with arms outstretched in a wooded area near Fort Saskatchewan.

"The first and most obvious observation was evidence of what appeared to be post-mortem mutilation," the pathologist said. Both of Quinney's breasts had been removed as well as parts of her genitalia, right to the bone.

"The best opinion I can give is these were after death," he said.

Dowling added the injuries from the mutilation did not extend into the body and said the removal of Quinney's breasts and genitalia was precise, with smooth edges and very little tearing.

Tests indicated there was a high level of cocaine in Quinney's blood.

"At least one possibility toxicology put forward was cocaine might have been a factor in this person's death," he said.

There was also trace evidence of gamma hydroxy butyrate or GHB, a common date rape drug, in Quinney's system. Dowling stated said the chemical is in every person's body and its presence can increase at death.

"There are other subtle possibilities that I can't rule out as well," he said.

Crown prosecutor Carminati had Dowling explain there were many ways of killing a person without leaving a trace, such as "soft smothering," in which a pillow or plastic bag is placed over the victim's head.

Strangulation with a soft, broad object, like a towel, is also often undetectable, Dowling said.

Evidence examined by a forensic entomologist didn't aid in determining the time of Quinney's death. Maggots collected by Dowling at the scene yielded inconclusive findings, and only suggested that Quinney's body had been lying in the field a "few days."

Dowling mused that real-life forensic science offers little of the certainty that appears in fictional crime dramas.

"It's difficult to do at best, unlike what you see on TV," he said.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Robert Shaigec, Dowling said Quinney had enough cocaine and cocaine residue in her body to have killed her.

"It alone could have been the cause of death?" asked Shaigec.

"That's correct," responded Dowling.

Shaigec also had Dowling admit he could find no evidence to support that Quinney was smothered to death.

The second half of the day's proceedings was taken up with medical evidence surrounding the death of Theresa Innes.

Dr. Bernard Bannach, Alberta's assistant chief medical examiner, testified that cocaine was also found in Innes' system – but not enough to kill her.

"The concentrations appear to be consistent with recreational use of cocaine rather than a fatal overdose," he said.

Bannach said the condition of Innes' body prevented him from confirming a cause of death.

"This was largely due to the decomposed nature of the remains which does limit us in the cause and manner of the death," he said.

"I can't rule out asphyxia, but I have no objective evidence of it either," he said.

Bannach reflected there were some similarities in the deaths of the two women.

"Both women were approximately the same weight, both had same length and colour of hair and both had cocaine in their systems," he said.

What Bannach didn't put on that list was that the bodies of both women were either found by Thomas Svekla or stuffed in his hockey bag.

Like Quinney, Innes had no cuts, injuries or other telltale traces of what killed her.

"I was unable to come to a determination of the cause of death of Miss Innes," Bannach said.

Bannach estimated she had been dead for roughly a week and that her body was so decomposed he could only complete two of the six standard toxicology tests.

The wires that held the various layers of plastic in which her body was wrapped were probably wound around her within 12 hours of her death, Bannach said. The pathologist noted it took over an hour to make 58 cuts to free the body from the wire wrapped around it.

Crown prosecutor Carminati asked Bannach if it was possible that Innes' body lay frozen in the truck behind Fountain Tire from December 2005 to May 2006 before it was taken to Fort Saskatchewan.

Bannach replied he had reviewed weather data for the city of High Level and said he could see no reason why that wasn't possible.

"I can't really find anything inconsistent with that hypothetical (series of events)," Bannach said.

Under cross-examination by Shaigec, Bannach admitted that while the theory is possible, he was unable to say just how possible.

Later outside court, both medical examiners appeared before cameras to re-state their testimony. The station that interviewed Dr. Graeme Dowling made sure viewers knew which reporter was asking the questions.

"I just felt that given the circumstances surrounding the death, the location of the body and everything, it was more prudent to say that the cause of death was undetermined," Dowling said.

With regard to questions of smothering or overdose, the pathologist repeated that he couldn't include or eliminate either as a cause of death.

"You can't always prove them. You can only put them forward as a possibility."

The uncertainty was echoed by Dr. Bernard Bannach.

"This was largely due to the decomposed nature of the remains which does limit us to a degree in our determination of a cause and a manner of death," Bannach said.

"Both women were roughly the same weight, 50 kilograms versus 49 and a half kilograms, both had the same length and roughly colour of hair, both individuals had cocaine present in their toxicology samples and in both women the cause and manner of death was undetermined."

The day's proceedings were interrupted by a bit of courtroom melodrama that caused Justice Sterling Sanderman permanently barred a member of the gallery from the trial.

Sanderman told court just before the lunch break he had ejected Keith Lajimodiere – Rachel Quinney's older brother – because of an "intimidating" gesture he made. The justice then warned others not to interfere with the trial.

Sanderman said Lajimodiere moved from his usual spot in the back of the courtroom to sit closer to Svekla's place in the prisoners' box and displayed a "menacing and glowering body posture" by spreading out his arms and legs to take up as much space as possible on the court bench.

Then, said Sanderman, "He put his finger to his temple like a cocked gun" while maintaining eye contact with Svekla.

"It is clear that this was an attempt to intimidate Mr. Svekla. It was an attempt to interfere with the proceedings," Sanderman said.

"For that act, this person is not welcome in this courtroom. This is serious business. Everyone should be able to perform their function."

Sanderman said he had ordered court sheriffs to eject the man.

Outside court Lajimodiere gave his own accounting of the event, saying Svekla looked at him and snickered during Dr. Dowling's testimony.

"The guy was gunning me off so I came up to the front, sat there by myself and that was it. Scratched my head, the judge took that as an indication of ... rude gesture I would guess."

"I scratched my head. And the judge thought I was giving an indication of ... intimidation."

"Do you deny that's what you you did?" asked CBC reporter Janice Johnston.

"That's exactly what I'm doing. I'm denying what I done. I have a very strong interest in being here."

Quinney's brother noted his family felt Svekla had been taunting them by smiling and grinning at them.

"We're here for answers. We're not here for anybody to laugh at us," said Charlotte Lajimodiere, Keith's wife.

"This guy sits there and smiles in our faces, gives us this cocky grin. Thomas Svekla deliberately laughed with his hand in front of his face towards my husband," Charlotte said.

"If anybody expects this family not to react to some of the evidence we're hearing on the stand or the testimony we're hearing on the stand, sure we're gonna have some harsh reactions.

"We don’t find anything humourous here. Thomas Svekla from Day One has found humour in a lot of things that have been said on that stand.

"We’re not coming here to be laughed at by someone accused of murdering our sister. Now my husband's being thrown out of a courtroom and we're going to sit back and have a murderer laugh in our face. I don't think so."

As the couple left the courthouse steps, Keith Lajimodiere said he would be going to speak to a lawyer.

The trial continued March 10th, 2008.

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During coverage of Keith Lajimodiere's ejection, Global Television inadvertently paid tribute to the lifelike and rapid renderings of their courtroom artist.

One Edmonton Journal reader later took the newspaper to task for publishing details from the testimony of the Chief Medical Examiner of Alberta.

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