Defence grills slain woman’s co-worker

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This article was published 14/06/2022 (925 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Lawyers for a Winnipeg teen on trial accused of beating his mother to death turned their attention to a co-worker she had accused of sexually harassing her, suggesting he was responsible for the killing.

Jurors have heard the woman filed a complaint against the man in May 2018. She had accused him of “inappropriate behaviour” and “unwanted attention,” including crude remarks, an attempt to kiss her in an elevator and touching her breasts.

The man, who cannot be identified by name under terms of a court-ordered publication ban, denied touching the woman, but admitted to exchanging inappropriate “banter” with her.

The man said he was shocked when administrators notified him about the allegations, noting the woman had given him a chocolate just days earlier.

“We were friends, we were colleagues, there was no indication this was an issue,” he said.

The 51-year-old victim was found bludgeoned to death in her bed on March 26, 2019. Her son, who is now 19, is charged with first-degree murder.

The Free Press is not naming the victim as it would identify the accused, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The co-worker and victim worked at the same company, sometimes in different departments, for roughly 20 years.

After the woman filed a complaint against him, “I stayed as far away as I could from that woman,” the man said.

The man said he worked hard to develop a good reputation and get ahead.

“When somebody makes a false allegation against you, it puts all that in jeopardy, doesn’t it?” defence lawyer Matt Gould said when cross-examining the man last week.

“Yeah, it definitely puts that thought in your head, you work so hard and somebody is going to come and try and knock you down,” the man replied.

The man testified an internal investigation cleared him of any wrongdoing, but Gould suggested a letter from administrators pointed to a more uncertain conclusion.

“The evidence available does not allow us to determine with a sufficient degree of certainty if you had indeed behaved in an improper manner,” the letter read, before going on to warn the man any finding of similar behaviour in the future could be grounds for dismissal.

The man testified he had just reconciled with his wife after more than a year apart after someone falsely alleged he had been having an affair with someone at work.

The man testified he did not tell his wife about the harassment complaint or, initially, about the woman’s death, saying he did not want to jeopardize their reconciliation.

The man said he complied with a directive from his bosses not to talk about the harassment complaint, but the woman did not.

The man told police he believed the woman had a romantic interest in him, which he did not return and may have prompted her harassment complaint.

“The theory of this is… that when it became clear you were not interested, that she jumped right from being interested in you to filing a HR complaint against you?” Gould put to the man.

“It’s possible,” he replied.

Court has heard the woman had been off work for several months at the time of her death due to both physical injury and mental health issues.

The woman’s co-worker speculated her medication “may have put her in a state of mind that was causing her not to see or think clearly.”

Gould opened his cross-examination by telling the man it wasn’t his job to prove who killed the victim and that his testimony was only a “small part” of the trial.

“It’s a big part for me, sir,” the man replied. “You have no idea what you and your team have put me through, have put my family through, for years. I don’t wish this upon anybody.”

Prosecutors allege the victim’s son is the only person who had the opportunity to kill her, pointing to security video footage that shows the teen was the only person who left or entered the home around the time of the killing.

In an interview with police, the teen denied involvement in the killing and identified his mother’s co-worker as the only person he could think of who might have harmed her.

Det.-Sgt. Kenneth Lepage testified last week he interviewed the “person of interest,” and found his claims as to his whereabouts around the time of the killing were confirmed by electronic records showing his arrival and departure from work and a sign-in sheet showing he had dropped his children off at the YMCA.

Lepage said no witnesses could place the man or his vehicle near the murder scene at any time.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca