Murder trial told hammer tested positive for blood

Police officer tells of items seized from home where man is alleged to have killed his roommate

Bloodstained items, potential weapons and dozens of empty beer cans were seized from the downtown Kelowna home where Daniel Ruff is alleged to have killed roommate Warren Welters.

Const. Ewan Dewolf told the jury in Ruff’s second-degree murder trial about the items he seized from the Bernard Avenue residence in the days following Welters’ death.

A hammer found in a hall closet, a flathead screwdriver found on the back deck and a nine-kilogram dumbbell found in Welters’ room were all seized to be examined as potential weapons.

“The size of the dumbbell was not consistent with the injuries, nor was the screwdriver,” Sgt. Sherrie Brunelle, an RCMP forensic identification expert, told the Kelowna court Tuesday.

Following that observation, Brunelle examined the hammer further and found it tested positive for the presence of blood.

“Now that we had a good look at the injuries to Mr. Welters, we had a much better idea as to what could have caused it,” said Dewolf, adding he returned to the residence for a more focused search. “I was looking for items that were around the hammer, and we also searched the entire house to look for any items that could have possibly caused the injury that we might have missed.”

Ruff, 65, is accused of hitting Welters in the head with a hammer while Welters was passed out on his bed.

From the hall closet where the hammer had been found, Dewolf seized a towel, masking tape and a pair of grey shoes.

He also seized a bloodstained pillow case from Welters’ bedroom, where he was found dead on June 14, 2015, along with a cutout section of the comforter from the bed that was covered in blood.

Dewolf seized seven empty beer cans from the kitchen table of the residence, along with an empty 750millilitre bottle of Polar Ice vodka and 13 more empty beer cans, which were found on the kitchen floor.

An empty beer can was also seized from the kitchen counter, along with seven empty beer cans from the deck, a case of beer with 24 empty cans and a plastic bag full of empty beer cans.

Dewolf said he did not count the number of cans in the bag.

“It was a large bag, the sort of bag you’d bring to the recycling depot,” he said.

Ruff told police he’d been outside on his deck drinking with two friends the day of the incident, when he went upstairs to find Welters dead.

A bucket of cigarette butts along with cigarette butts from an ash tray and a lighter were also seized from the deck for DNA purposes, said Dewolf.

Ruff was arrested June 29, 2015, and is currently out on bail.

The trial continues.