Responding officers emotional over scene of woman’s death in Regina

Victim was born in Truro, raised in Pictou County

Faced with a photo showing the scene of Jenny Leigh Mckay’s death, a member of the Regina Police Service who’d been there that night fought back emotion.

Const. Bryceton Fink wiped away tears after identifying, in the photograph, the bloodsoaked kitchen in which the 33-year-old woman lay.

Fink was one of a number of police officers called to testify on Tuesday at the second-degree murder trial for Jenny’s husband, 47-year-old Jason Daniel Mckay. Jason is accused of stabbing Jenny to death sometime between Sept. 5 and 6, 2017.

Jenny was born in Truro and grew up in Pictou County.

Fink and another witness, Const. Graham Mcdonald, were among the first at the home, responding to what they initially believed to be a welfare check on Jason. On Monday, when the three-week trial began, court heard from Jason’s mother who told the court she contacted police after a late-night call from her son caused her to worry he might be suicidal.

When officers arrived at the address, they were met by Jason, who was covered in blood. Fink said the man was asked where his wife was, to which he responded, “She’s dead. I f***g killed her.”

While Mcdonald dealt with Jason’s arrest, Fink went into the house to look for Jenny. He described “a state of shock” as he entered the kitchen where Jenny was lying on her back, covered in blood with a large knife protruding from her chest.

“The scene was gruesome,”

Fink told the court.

Fink and then-forensic identification unit member Const. Alyssa Gregory each described the kitchen as blood-covered.

“In my experience, this is a lot of blood at a scene,” Gregory, who was an identification officer for seven years, told the court.

Among numerous items she seized from the scene were two broken knives and a cellphone containing a number of photographs that appeared to be of Jenny’s dead body.

Advanced care paramedic Jason Williams, a supervisor with Regina EMS, testified he was in the house only long enough to confirm Jenny was deceased.

He told the court she was already starting to show signs of rigor mortis, suggesting she’d been dead for some time prior to emergency crews arriving. Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Thomas Hynes, Williams told the court the first signs of rigor mortis typically begin two to four hours after death.

Court also reviewed a range of videos from Regina Police Service headquarters, showing Jason’s arrival, processing by another forensic identification member and placement in a cell.

An in-car video played in court on Monday showed Jason making repeated comments about killing his wife and challenging police to fight. Those types of comments continued at police headquarters, with an already-agitated Jason becoming more combative as police tried to put him in a cell.

During continued demands to fight, Jason frequently is heard saying, “I’ve got nothing to lose. Nothing.”

Court heard Jason showed signs of intoxication, and it’s likely that will play a role in the case – along with how his use of alcohol might have caused problems with anti-depressants and sleep medication he was taking.

The trial continues this week.