Rafferty jury hears from officer who found Tori Stafford’s body
Posted March 30, 2012 12:17 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The police officer who found eight-year-old Victoria Stafford’s body says he wasn’t searching for her that day, but came across a scene that looked very familiar.
Terri-Lynne McClintic, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the girl’s death, had drawn sketches of the crime scene to try to help police find her remains.
Ontario Provincial Police Det. Staff Sgt. Jim Smyth is testifying Friday at the trial of Michael Rafferty, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping.
Smyth says police learned on July 17, 2009, that Rafferty’s cellphone had pinged off a tower near Mount Forest, Ont., on the evening of April 8, 2009 — the day Tori was killed.
Smyth decided to drive through the rural area two days later to get an idea of the landscape, then saw a house that was nearly identical to a house McClintic had described.
He says he drove down a laneway across from the house, saw a rock pile as McClintic had described, and smelled the odour of decomposition.
