Trial Shocker: Video Confession From Acquitted Lover Of Axe Murder Accused
Posted October 16, 2009 7:03 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A shocking admission emerged from the trial of an accused axe murderer Friday – a confession from a once-alleged accomplice already acquitted of the crime.
The Superior Court jury in the trial of Nicola Puddicombe watched a police videotape of Ashleigh Pechaluk (pictured) confessing to murdering Dennis Hoy.
Pechaluk went free of murder charges in June, but jurors in her trial did not see the recording because she reportedly hadn’t been advised of her right to counsel, rendering the evidence inadmissible.
But in the video Pechaluk repeatedly states that Nicola Puddicombe, Hoy’s then girlfriend now on trial for first-degree murder, wasn’t responsible.
Pechaluk is currently testifying in Puddicombe’s trial and has since repeatedly insisted she lied to police that night when she took the blame, saying she did so to protect her co-accused in the grisly murder from Oct. 27, 2006.
Also Friday, Pechaluk, 25, testified she first discovered Hoy’s death when Puddicombe, 36, came to wake her that morning.
The Crown’s theory remains that the two women were lovers and planned the murder in concert, with Pechaluk wielding the axe hitting and Hoy at least six times as he lay naked and asleep in Puddicombe’s bed.
In addition to love, insurance money is being submitted as a motivating factor.
Puddicombe’s trial continues.
