Murder accused's father discovered body, jurors hear

Surveillance tapes from cameras in Johnathan Townsend's apartment building show no one entered or exited his unit between the time he left the residence in the early morning hours of Aug. 8, 2013 and the body of Corellie Bonhomme was discovered in his bathtub.

Jurors viewed a condensed version of all relevant footage police seized from eight cameras in the 69-unit building during the investigation of the 42-year-old-exotic dancer's death, on Wednesday, the third day of Townsend's first-degree murder trial.

Townsend, 21, has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Const. Joe Addison testified he initially examined videotapes that began at 7 a.m. on Aug. 8 and ran until 8:45 p.m. that night, but expanded his search when he discovered the only persons near the apartment were Townsend's father, who discovered the body, and first responders.

The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service mobile command unit sits outside an apartment complex on Lake Street where Corellie Bonhomme's body was found on Aug. 8, 2013. SooToday file photo

Working backwards from the time they arrived at the apartment, he found Townsend let Bonhomme into the building about 2:15 p.m. on Aug. 7.

She left a couple of hours later.

Townsend made three trips to the parking lot between 8:42 and 8:52 p.m. and deposited garbage in the dumpster.

Shortly after 9 p.m., he left the building carrying a black bag and walked towards Lake Street.

He returned just before 11:30 p.m. with a black computer bag and went to his apartment.

Just after 1:50 a.m. on Aug. 8, Bonhomme returned to the building and went to his apartment, Addison told jurors as he described what they were seeing.

At 3:24 a.m., Townsend, carrying a black pack sack and a computer bag, left his apartment and walked southbound on Lake Street.

"No person entered or exited the apartment (after that)" until George Townsend, the accused's father,  arrived at 7:25 p.m., unlocked  the apartment door, went in and came out a minute later, Addison said.

He appeared to be on his cell phone and waited in the hallway until two firefighters arrived and he opened the door for them, the criminal investigation unit officer testified.

The court also heard from the first responders, who were dispatched there shortly after 7:30 p.m.following a 911 call, and watched a police video of the bloody crime scene 

Police officers, a paramedic and firefighter, described what they found inside the ground floor bachelor apartment at 379 Lake St.

Matthew Hickey, a 10-year paramedic, said police and fire department responders were already there when he arrived and was asked by a detective to enter the apartment and determine if the person was deceased.

There was "a fair amount of blood," that he tried to step around, as he went to the bathroom, he told assistant Crown attorney Heidi Mitchell.

The woman was in a fetal position, face down in the drain area of the tub, with her hands behind her, he testified.

She was cold and her body was "very stiff," indicating rigor mortis, Hickey said.

Mark McLean testified that he and fellow firefighter Richard Bishop were the first on the murder scene, and were directed to the apartment by the landlord, who opened the door for them.

The 17-year firefighter said "there was blood everywhere and glass on the floor," and a trail of blood that led to the bathroom, where there was a woman, hunched over in the tub, "almost like a fetal position."

City police Const. Nicole Magnan, then a forensic identification unit officer, videotaped the murder scene and took photographs at the apartment where Townsend had lived since April.

The video detailed the layout of the "pretty tiny" 375-square-foot apartment, which consisted of a bathroom and a living area, but no separate bedroom.

It showed blood splatter on the floor and closet door near the entrance, streaks of blood on the wall beside the bathroom, more blood on the vanity, tub, toilet and the wall above the sink

The deceased was in the tub, with her feet at the drain area, a green mat was soaked with blood, and men's black boxers were on the floor, the 22-year officer said.

There also was a large pool of blood on the bed, and blood all over a purse and white boots near the bed, Magnan told the court.

A Faberware knife with a curved blade and a rag covered in blood were located in the kitchen sink.

Magnan also showed jurors photographs of 19 barefoot impressions found in blood on the apartment floors.

During cross-examination, defence counsel Jennifer Tremblay-Hall told the officer that a first responder had testified, and had indicated in his statement to police the day following the incident, that the deceased's head was at the other end of the tub, not what was shown in the police photograph.

Magnan said she couldn't speak for him, but the photo was evidence and based on the amount of blood there was in the tub, the woman's head wasn't in the drain area.

The prosecution also read in evidence from the parents of the accused.

George Townsend had a key to his son's apartment and went there after receiving a phone call from the then 18-year-old's mother Karen Upper.

When he entered the apartment he saw blood and noticed a person in the tub in the bathroom, after he turned on a light.

He called 911 and waited in the hallway until police arrived.

Upper received a phone call at 9:05 that morning from Johnathan, who she was supposed to pick up to take to an orthodontist appointment.

He said he was going to walk to Algoma University, and she picked him up there after receiving two more calls from him.

When he got in the vehicle, he told her he should go to the hospital, and she took him there.

The trial continues Thursday with Addison returning to the witness stand.