Expert testimony still to come in Selena Lomen murder trial

Two RCMP officers who were first on the scene of a killing in Fort Liard, N.W.T., testified in court Monday.

Selena Lomen, 23, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Danny Klondike, 34, in Fort Liard in October 2018. Her trial began in N.W.T. Supreme Court in Yellowknife on Nov. 9.

RCMP Const. Adam Betz, who appeared by video link from Nova Scotia, testified that he was on call when he got a call from dispatch around 4 a.m. He was still getting dressed when he got a second call, telling him the victim was believed to be dead.

He arrived at the home of Lomen and Klondike to find Klondike's mother and brother already there.

Betz and Cpl. Curtis Ping, who also testified Monday, managed to clear the scene and prevent anyone else from going inside, as the crowd of interested onlookers grew.

Betz said there was concern for Lomen and Klondike's young child. He spoke to the neighbour, Douglas Bertrand, who had already retrieved the boy and put him in the care ofhis wife, who was next door.

Ping, who testifiedby video from Edmonton, saidthat he checked Klondike's vital signs, but it was too late.

Later that day, RCMP from the Major Crimes Unit in Yellowknife arrived to collect evidence.

A plaid shirt, a hoodie, a yellow towel, a pair of pants with a belt and chaps and a Samsung cellphone were all collected.

A knife found on the kitchen floor was also seized.

In three new agreed statements of fact submitted Monday, the Crown prosecutors and Lomen's defence lawyer agreed that the integrity of the evidence is not in question. That is, it was kept safe by RCMP and the forensic lab in Edmonton, and had not been tampered with.

Also among the evidence gathered are the clothes Lomen was wearing grey jogging pants, a brown hoodie, pink socks and a pair of black DC sneakers and a key that was found in her pocket.

The officers were just the latest of more than a dozen witnesses who've testified so far.

RCMP from the Major Crimes Unitare expected to testify Tuesday. On Wednesday, the court will hear from a pathologist, nurses, and a forensic DNA expert. On Thursday, a blood-stain pattern analyst is expected to testify.

The trial is expected to wrap up Nov. 25.