Judge urged to dismiss key witness story
Lengthy courtroom battle in Durant murder trial coming to an end with closing arguments
The Crown’s star witness, Dana Arnold, is a liar telling a story fed to her by police to convict Michael Durant.
That was what defence attorney Joe Wilkinson told Superior Court Justice Gerald Taylor in his closing arguments at Durant’s first-degree murder trial Thursday.
“Why would she lie?” Wilkinson said of Durant’s ex-wife. “Ms. Arnold has to tell a story that is satisfactory to the police to get an immunity deal.
“If she was involved as an accomplice after the fact, what she told the court makes no sense.”
Durant, 47, is accused of killing a 32-year-old Niagara Falls woman in August 2003. The victim’s body was discovered in a ditch near Darby and Grassybrook roads on the outskirts of Niagara Falls near Welland. An autopsy revealed she died from blunt force injuries someone could have inflicted with a hammer.
The Court of Appeal overturned Durant’s conviction in 2019, and a court-imposed publication ban protects the victim’s name.
Wilkinson launched into a list of inconsistencies in Arnold’s court testimony, and two different versions she told to Niagara Regional Police detectives.
In the first version, she said she had nothing to do with the events in the couple’s garage where the victim was attacked and only heard about them second hand.
Arnold months later said she couldn’t live with her secret anymore and went back to police. She told detectives she arrived home to find Durant’s hands and arms covered in blood and the victim injured in the garage. Durant moved the victim to the trunk of Arnold’s car, and Arnold with Durant drove to the remote area between Niagara Falls and Welland, where a passerby later found the body.
Arnold testified to this second version in court.
Police recorded videos of the interviews and a re-enactment of her activities the night of the murder.
“There is one reason why she lies the way she does,” Wilkinson said. “Det. Jackie Moore is her Geppetto. Everything she says is from
Jackie Moore.”
Wilkinson went on with growing sarcasm in his voice.
“And she is so amenable to everything Jackie Moore tells her. When Jackie Moore pulls the strings, she moves her arms and legs. The Crown never called Jackie Moore in this proceeding.”
Wilkinson said Arnold had the means to fabricate her evidence from what Moore told her, media accounts at the time of the murder, and information from Durant and his brother.
Wilkinson pointed out inconsistencies, both big and small. She couldn’t remember who popped the trunk and said the button was in the glove box. There is no trunk release in the glove box of the Mercury Cougar model year she was driving. In another instance, she told police Durant took a shower after the murder. In court, Arnold said Durant had a bath, and the water turned red with the victim’s blood.
Wilkinson then turned to Arnold’s immunity deal, which states the Crown won’t prosecute her — as long as her statements are complete and truthful.
“That is all the motivation she needs to maintain the lie that got her immunity.”