Missing child poster of Tori Stafford found at home of accused killer

The man accused of killing Victoria Stafford had a poster of the missing eight-year-old girl tucked away in a drawer in his kitchen, court heard Thursday.

WARNING: Graphic details from this court case may disturb some readers.

A police officer testified at the trial of Michael Rafferty that a search of the home the accused shared with his mother in Woodstock, Ont., turned up several items allegedly connected to Tori’s abduction and murder.

Police were guided in their search by information from Terri-Lynne McClintic, Rafferty’s girlfriend who had days earlier confessed and implicated him, Ontario Provincial Police Const. Gary Scoyne testified.

McClintic, who is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree murder, initially told police she abducted Tori at Rafferty’s urging, and that he then raped and killed the girl. However, she recently testified at Rafferty’s trial that it was she who used a hammer to kill Tori.

Scoyne told court that a black pea coat, like the one McClintic said was used to cover Tori in the back seat of Rafferty’s car, was found in his front hall closet. The same brand of hammer police allege was used to kill Tori was also found in the closet, but it was a larger style.

Water bottles with caps like those found in the garbage bag containing Tori’s remains were found in Rafferty’s messy and sparsely decorated bedroom. McClintic testified that after the alleged sexual assault, Rafferty used water bottles from his car to clean himself.

Tucked in a junk drawer in the kitchen was a slightly crumpled poster of Tori distributed when she went missing. McClintic had the same poster in a garbage bin in her bedroom.

Police also found a receipt from Wal-Mart for two boxes of hair dye. McClintic testified that Rafferty gave her one in the days after Tori went missing on April 8, 2009, and told her to change her appearance.

The other box of hair dye was for a “Frost and Tips” kit. At the time of Rafferty’s arrest, his brown hair had blond dye on the tips, court has heard.

A memory card was found in one drawer with pictures of McClintic and several of Rafferty, including one with a big smile on his face.

On Wednesday, the jury saw the results of the search at McClintic’s dilapidated home. Rafferty’s house was better furnished, although his bedroom had bare walls and few personal effects beyond clothing.

Officers did find several empty, unlabelled pill bottles and one empty bottle for a prescription of the addictive painkiller, Oxycodone.

Police also found a note titled “Things 4 Carol,” which listed various pieces of furniture. McClintic testified that after she was arrested on April 12 on an unrelated offence, Rafferty helped take care of her mother, Carol McClintic.

Rafferty has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping.