A Canadian man has gone on trial accused of murdering and dismembering two young women whose bodies were only discovered after two plumbers were called to the home to unclog pipes.
The workmen had been in the Ontario apartment building where 47-year-old Adam Strong lived to unblock some drains when they came across a ‘fleshy-like substance.’
Unsure of what it was they had found, the pair decide to call police officers who then uncovered the gruesome scene.
The trial of Adam Strong, 47, pictured, accused of murdering and dismembering two women got underway Monday in Oshawa, Ontario
It was December 2017 when Police Constable Kevin Park went to the Oshawa home, northeast of Toronto.
Park met with the two plumbers where he was shown a shopping bag in which some remains had been collected.
‘I’d never seen anything like this before so I wasn’t sure,’ the Durham Regional Police officer testified in court on Monday, as reported by CTV.
Four police officers then went down to the basement apartment where a man, Strong, opened the door.
Park asked what he was flushing down the toilet.
Strong is alleged to have admitted things immediately.
The dismembered body of Rori Hache, 18, was found in Strong’s freezer and down some drains
Strong has also been charged with first-degree murder in the case of Kandis Fitzpatrick who disappeared in 2008
‘OK, you got me, the gig’s up, it’s a body,’ he is alleged to have said. ‘If you want to recover the rest of her, it’s in my freezer.’
Strong was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Rori Hache. He is also accused of killing Kandis Fitzpatrick, 19, who vanished in 2008 and has not been heard from since.
Strong has pleaded not guilty to both first-degree murder charges.
Crown attorney Bryan Guertin told the court how fishermen had found a torso in Oshawa Harbour three months earlier.
It was quickly established that the body was that of Hache’s.
Information found on Strong’s digital devices, including his cellphone, is likely to form some part of the evidence in the case against him
Hache was found with multiple injuries on her body, including two fractures to her skull although an overall cause of death could not be established according to a medical examiner
During their forensic search, investigators also found a large hunting knife on which Kandis Fitzpatrick’s DNA was found. Her blood was similarly found in Strong’s freezer and bedroom
Strong had not been on police’s radar until he had been caught trying to dispose of Hache’s remains.
Data from Google showed how his phone had been located at Oshawa Harbour one week before the torso had been found.
After Strong’s arrest, investigators found the rest of her body as Strong had said, in a freezer in his bedroom. Her blood was found on Strong’s bedroom walls and ceiling, and his semen was found on her body.
Hache was found with multiple injuries on her body, including two fractures to her skull although an overall cause of death could not be established according to a medical examiner.
During their forensic search, investigators also found a large hunting knife on which Kandis Fitzpatrick’s DNA was found. Her blood was similarly found in Strong’s freezer and bedroom.
‘Ms. Fitzpatrick found the same fate as Ms. Hache,’ Guertin told the court. ‘Both girls were vulnerable, were essentially homeless with no fixed address.’
Strong had not been on police’s radar until he had been caught trying to dispose of Hache’s remains
Data from Google showed how his phone had been located at Oshawa Harbour, pictured above, one week before the torso of Rori Hache had been found
‘Both girls suffered from drug issues and sometimes worked in the sex trade to help fund their drug habit.’
Hache’s mother, Shanan Dionne, spoke outside court on Monday and said the trial was not about her daughter being homeless or ‘a drug-addict tossed away that wasn’t loved, because she was so loved.’
The 18-year-old was pregnant at the time but also struggling with an addiction to crystal meth.
Kandis’s father, William Fitzpatrick, also testified in course and told how the last time he had seen his daughter was spring of 2008 and had not heard from her since.
She was also known to have struggled with drugs and would often leave home for weeks at a time without any notice.
The trial is continuing and will use digital evidence from Strong’s phone along with testimony from five other alleged female victims of sexual violence by Strong.
Source: Daily Mail
