Court reviews video of 2001 Belanger murder
The disturbing memories came back again Tuesday when recently retired Calgary police Sgt. Paul Malchow played a more than decade-old graphic crime-scene video to the jury.
Lily Belanger could not face the video screens in the courtroom, instead looking downward when it showed her daughter’s body clad in a nightgown slumped on the floor of the bedroom in the home on Templeby Road.
“I feel lighter in my heart that this trial has started. I really want people to remember Corinne,” the distraught mother said outside court during a break, “I didn’t want to look at the scene. I knew when to look because I’ve already heard it four times (at previous hearings). Yes, it is difficult. Just looking at the house brings back a lot of memories.”
Malchow, who took the video while he was in the crime scene unit on April 17, 2001 — the day after the fatal shooting — said nothing in the home appeared to be out of order other than a shell casing and a roll of duct tape on the floor beside the 37-year-old victim’s body, and a flashlight and book on the bed.
Barry David Brown, 52, a friend of the victim’s common-law husband Lee Vollmin, is on trial for first-degree murder. He was not charged until two years ago, following a lengthy investigation and cold case review. Lily Belanger said she will never forget her daughter, and neither will her husband’s family,
Court heard Corinne Belanger was shot three times, including twice through the heart by an intruder.
Court previously heard that Corinne Belanger told two friends and 911 dispatchers leading up to her shooting death that she feared her common-law husband.
Her babysitter, Diane Sawatzky, and close friend and prayer partner, Myrtle McTavish, testified earlier she had split up with him and was fighting for full custody of their two- year-old son.
Court heard Belanger say in 911 calls on April 4 and April 8, 2001, that Vollmin threatened to kill her.
Sawatzky testified Belanger told her a week prior to her death on Easter Sunday that Vollmin ”knocked her into an ironing board, held (the toddler) up and said, ‘see what a waste of skin looks like.’”
Both witnesses said Belanger told them she did not like any of Vollmin’s friends.
Brown was originally charged two years ago with second-degree mur- der, but it was upgraded last year to first-degree following his preliminary hearing. He pleaded not guilty at the start of trial through lawyer Paul Brunnen.
Crown prosecutor Carla MacPhail told the jury in her opening statement the theory of the prosecution is that Brown came to the Templeby Road N.E. home on April 15 armed with a .45-calibre handgun and the intention of killing Corinne Belanger.
She said Belanger was shot three times when she got out of bed. He left her dead or dying in a pool of blood on her bedroom floor.
“Barry Brown’s motive for this is his loyalty to Lee Vollmin,” MacPhail said. “Ms. Belanger was about to become a very serious problem for Lee Vollmin. She wanted him out of the house, wanted full custody (of their son) and a restraining order. She was also seeking child support. All were coming to an apex by Easter 2001.”
The scheduled six-week trial before Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Glen Poelman and jury continues.