An RCMP forensics specialist testified at the first-degree murder trial of Zachary Armitage and James Lee Busch that Martin Payne’s body was found lying on the floor of his master bedroom’s ensuite bathroom with “quite a bit of blood,” and duct tape was found on his body.
“There was a large pool of blood to the right side of the toilet,” RCMP Cpl. Kim Sarson testified in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.
Armitage and Busch have pleaded not guilty to murdering 60-year-old Payne the day after escaping July 7, 2019 from William Head minimum-security prison, about eight kilometres from Payne’s Metchosin home.
Payne’s body was found three days later.
Sarson, who was on the stand for most of Thursday and all of Friday, told Crown prosecutor Chandra Fisher that duct tape was found on Payne’s right forearm and on his right leg, around his shorts. A tape roll was still attached to the tape on his leg.
A palm print from Armitage was located on a duct-tape dispenser on the bedroom floor, Sarson said. A hacksaw was also found on the floor.
The forensics specialist has said she found blood on a range of items located in garbage bags in the home, including a towel, a blanket and a pair of shoes.
Sarson also examined Payne’s truck, which had been found abandoned in Oak Bay. She said she identified Armitage’s fingerprints on a newspaper and a plastic bag found inside, and found Busch’s prints inside the truck, as well.
Details of the escape were provided in earlier testimony from Jeffrey Cashin, a retired long-term William Head employee who helped in the search for Armitage and Busch. Cashin said a review of security footage from the prison showed the men walking around the fence line.
They made their way along the shoreline at low tide, court heard.
Later testimony in the trial is set to include a pathologist identifying “chop wounds” on Payne’s skull that could have come from a hatchet.
Sarson has been certified as an expert for the proceedings, having been in forensics for about 10 years and been active in over 600 cases.
The trial continues Monday.
