Baylee Wylie died before fire started, murder trial told

Moncton teenager Baylee Wylie was dead before there was a fire in the Monctontriplex where his body was found last December, a pathologist testified Friday in a trial related to Wylie's death.

Dr. AtherNaseemuddin testified in the first-degree murder trial of Devin Morningstar there was no soot found in Wylie'swindpipe, whichindicates he wasn't breathing and was already dead when the fire in the triplex started.

The body of Wylie, 18,was found partially under a boxspringin the burned-out unit of a triplex on Sumac Street on Dec. 17.

Naseemuddin testified the cause of Wylie's death was multiple sharp force injuries to the chest, neck and abdomen, and any of them could have caused his death.

The pathologist said there were multiple injuries to Wylie, both blunt-force and sharp. He said there were almost too many injuries to organize.

One injury penetrated the sac around Wylie's heart and one heart chamber, resulting in blood accumulating in the chest cavity along with air.

There were multiple injuries to his liver, including one that went "through and through."

Wylie's abdominal cavity contained one litre of blood.

Body found upstairs

Wylie's blood was found in the basement of the triplex unit in which he died, but his body was found upstairs, the trial heard from RCMPCpl. Patrick Gould.

When asked how Wylie's body got upstairs, Gould testified he couldn't answer.

Morningstar and two others are charged in the killing of Wylie.

A number of seized items from the scene were shown to the jury, includingbox cutters, a curtain rod, a broken glass bong and other items. The significance of any of those items was not stated.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Robert Rideout, Gouldsaid Morningstar's fingerprints weren't found on any of the items.

Police also seized a rifle, but not from the scene. Morningstar's fingerprints weren't found on it either.

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The Crown stated in its opening statement Wyliewas stabbed 100 to 200 times and he suffered both sharpand blunt-force injuries. His body was also partially burned.

Morningstar, 19, is one of three people charged with first-degree murder in Wylie's death. The other two accused will have separate trials.

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