Fatal LRT shooting followed brief altercation, court hears
The murder trial of a man who allegedly shot a woman dead on the Stadium LRT platform only minutes after meeting her started Monday with testimony from a forensics expert.
Colton Barry Ferguson, 20, faces charges of first-degree murder and possession of a prohibited weapon.
On the night of May 21, 2010, Heather Rae Thurier was shot once in the head at the LRT station. A surveillance camera caught a brief altercation between Thurier and another person before she was killed. The suspect then ran from the station, toward a nearby pub. Thurier was left face-down on the platform.
That video, described in Monday’s testimony, is expected to be shown this week to the court.
Edmonton police Const. John Bourgeois was one of the first investigators on-scene that night. A member of the forensics team, he took pictures of the crime scene after being told brief details.
“I was told the male took out a firearm and shot her point-blank in the face,” Bourgeois said.
Court heard the murder weapon was a .22-calibre rifle. Both the stock and barrel of the weapon had been sawed-off to make the rifle easier to carry and conceal, court heard.
In the days after the killing, Thurier’s family said the brief dispute between the young woman and her killer began when she refused to give him a cigarette.
Thurier died instantly from the gunshot, but an autopsy revealed lacerations on her chin and slash marks on her arm.
The trial continues.