Fatal bullet caused multiple holes, murder trial told

KITCHENER — The bullet that killed Devane Campbell caused multiple holes in his body, the trial for his alleged murderer was told on Wednesday.

“The bullet entered the body, left the body, re-entered the body, left the body and re-entered the body for a third time,” testified Dr. John Fernandes, a forensic pathologist who examined Campbell’s body.

Fired from behind and on a downward trajectory, the bullet went through Campbell’s earlobe, entered his neck, went through jugular veins and a carotid artery, exited his neck and re-entered at his shoulder where it came to rest in an arm bone.

“This is the lethal injury that he sustained,” Fernandes told Crown prosecutor Armin Sethi. “It would be rapidly lethal because the blood loss would be heavy and would be uncontrollable.”

Another bullet, also fired from behind, hit Campbell in the shoulder blade and stopped.

Noel Francis, 30, of Toronto has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

Campbell, 20, of Brantford was shot on the night of Nov. 30, 2012, at a housing complex at 199 Elm Ridge Dr. in Kitchener, near the intersection of Queen’s Boulevard and Westheights Drive. The Crown says three men, armed and masked, burst into the townhouse looking to rob it. Two men ran upstairs as Campbell leapt from a second-floor balcony into the snowy backyard before busting back inside through the front door to confront the intruders.

Campbell had been visiting his girlfriend at the townhouse. The jury has seen photos of a bloodspattered stairwell in the townhouse.

Following a trail of blood and snowy footprints, police found Campbell dead in the backyard of a nearby townhouse. He was lying face down beside a barbecue and a child’s swing set and carrying a folding knife and a stun gun.

The trial has heard a black Mercedes was seen near the townhouse on the night of the homicide.

In June 2013, police searched for blood in and on a black Mercedes and found none, testified Sgt. Perry Lee of the Waterloo Regional Police forensic identification branch.

Cross-examined by defence lawyer Chris Murphy, Lee said the car was not sprayed with luminol, a chemical that brings out a temporary blue glow where blood has been.

Nine months ago, police tried to find the Mercedes and do a luminol test, Lee said. He said he did not know why they wanted to do the test.

The trial, which began on Oct. 2 and could last 12 weeks, is on hold until next week as lawyers make legal arguments.

Justice Patrick Flynn thanked the jury of eight women and six men for their patience.

He reminded them not to talk to anyone about the trial.

“Keep all of this under your hat.”