November 28, 2021 • 44 mins
This episode is intended for a mature audience, and includes graphic descriptions of child abuse and murder.
Part 2 of a 2 part case.
Please listen to Complicity Part 1 before this episode.
All sources can be found on crimelapsepodcast.com
Thank you to our sponsor for this episode Elfster, the best secret santa service there is. Download the app on the apple app store or Google Play.
Part 2 of a 2 part case.
Please listen to Complicity Part 1 before this episode.
All sources can be found on crimelapsepodcast.com
Thank you to our sponsor for this episode Elfster, the best secret santa service there is. Download the app on the apple app store or Google Play.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
This is either two people whose liveswere overtaken by drugs and all the stress
and everything that goes on and theymade a bad decision. I made a
bad, bad mistake. Or thisis two cold blooded psychopaths who were planning
and plotting snatch an innocent little girloff the street. Welcome to crime Laps.
(00:26):
I am Aileen and I'm Charlie.This is complicity. In February two
eleven, Rafferty was granted a changeof venue from Woodstock to London, Ontario
because it was felt that he wouldnot get a fair trial. Jury selection
began on February twenty seven, twoeleven. Over one thousand people were pulled
(00:49):
and questioned to be part of thetwelve person jury. The potential members were
questioned on whether they felt the pretrial publicity would affect their ability to do
their duty. Took a week.The trial opened on March fifth in London,
Ontario, just as Thomas Heeney hadwarned the jury that the trial could
last several months due to the natureand length of the trial. Jurors were
(01:11):
paid forty dollars per day from thefirst day, which would increase to one
hundred dollars per day from the twentyfifth day of trial, more than a
typical jury receives. Crown Attorney KevinGoudy opened for the prosecution and warned them
that the evidence that would be presentedwould be graphic and hard to hear.
He laid out the prosecution's case thatTory Stafford was found wearing just a Hannah
(01:34):
Montana T shirt one hundred and threedays after she went missing. A pathologist
would testify that she had suffered multipleblows to the head with a hammer and
blunt force impacts her body that hadfractured her ribs and lacerated her liver.
Attorney Goudy told the jury that MichaelRafferty and and Terry Lynn mcclintick had abducted,
(01:55):
sexually assaulted, and brutally beaten thelittle girl to death before hiding her
remains in a secluded location. AttorneyGoudy informed the jury that it was not
up to them to figure out whohad doubt the fatal blows to the little
girl, but to determine whether ornot the accused and McClintic had acted together.
He said, in the end,it is not necessary or essential that
(02:15):
you'd determine exactly who did what,For example, which of the two delivered
the hammer blows to the skull orwho inflicted the trauma to Tori's body that
last lacerated her liver broke her ribs. Attorney Goudy also said that McClintic would
be called to testify and that whenthe jury heard her evidence, they would
unquestionably be disturbed by the choices thatshe made with Michael Rafferty. He also
(02:38):
acknowledged that McClintic's credibility would be amajor issue in the case because of the
role she played in Tory's murder,but advised the jurors to listen to her
evidence carefully and cautiously. He toldthe jury about evidence that would be presented,
including Rafferty's Honda Civic, which containedDNA evidence Sitting in the gallery.
During opening proceedings, Rodney Stafford Laytold the media that he had every faith
(03:01):
in the Crown and the police whoinvestigated the case. Rafferty's attorney, Dirk
Durstein, had asked everybody to keepan open mind and not rushed to judgment.
The following day, Laura Perry,the mother of one of Tory's classmates,
testified that she had seen Tory walkingwith a young woman on April eight,
two thousand and nine, and thatthey looked to be in a hurry.
(03:23):
She later spoke at police and helpedthem compose a sketch of the woman
who was seen, who was lateridentified as being Terry Len McClintic. Jennifer
Griffin Morrell, Tori's teacher, testifiedthat she was a happy and attentive student.
Ontario Provincial Police Detective Constable Robin Broccanier. Ontario Provincial Police Detective Constable Robin
(03:46):
Broccanier testified that he had been incharge of obtaining the video footage following Tory's
abduction. He spoke about the CCTVfootage that showed Tory walking with a person
of interest across from College Avenue SecondarySchool towards a retirement home. Car park
footage was also obtained of a darkcolored car pulling into the parking lot and
(04:09):
later leaving again. On the thirdday of evidence, Ontario Provincial Police Constable
Gary Skoyne testified the police that collectedone thousand, one hundred pieces of physical
evidence and took over four thousand photographsduring the investigation. Speaking about the sheer
size of the case. He said, I have worked on major cases before,
(04:31):
but this is the volume of thiswas enormous and the amount of personnel
was too. Constable Scoyne showed thejury fifty two photographs taken of the area
where Tory was last seen. Theyalso saw pictures of College Avenue Secondary School,
where the CCTV footage had been obtainedfrom. Constable Scoyne was in charge
of the exhibit management during the investigationand would be called to testify numerous times
(04:56):
throughout the trial. Oxford Commune thepolice staff Sergeant Paul Hess was also called
to testify for the Crown. Hestated that he became aware of Tory's disappearance
at six or four pm on Aprileighth. A police unit were sent to
Searcher's School and the surrounding area,but no trace of the little girl was
found. Tara McDonald, Tory's mother, also testified on March seventh. She
(05:21):
had not been allowed to attend theearlier proceedings as witnesses must not be influenced
by previous testimony. She said thatshe had suffered from an OxyContin addiction and
had in fact taken drugs on theafternoon of Tory's disappearance. She also admitted
to meeting with Clintic twice before,when she went to her home to purchase
drugs. On April eighth, Tarahad asked Darren to walk Tory home from
(05:45):
school, but he had brought anotherchildhome, and when he went back to
find Tory she was gone. Theybegan looking for her around the neighborhood around
four thirty pm, and Tara calledher mother to help just after five pm.
Their house was just over a blockand a half from the school.
Tara described Tory as a tomboy whowas also a girly girl. She loved
(06:06):
to dress up, but also hadno problem getting dirty or playing with bugs.
This part of who Tori was isembodied in her school photograph. The
little girl had gone to school pictureperfect in a pretty outfit, but snook
a pair of football boots in herbag and wore them for the photo.
The next day. Detective Constable ShawnKelly told the court that after the surveillance
(06:28):
footage of Tory walking with an unknownwoman was released on April ninth, her
mother, Tara had ranged to sayshe recognized the woman as Terry Lynn McClintock.
Mcclintick was later arrested for an outstandingwarrant and what confessed to her involvements.
Some weeks later, Detective Constable Kellystruggled to hold back tears when he
spoke about how the officers spent sixteento twenty hours a day looking for Tory
(06:49):
and then learned that the investigation wentfrom an abduction case Thoma's side. This
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download the Elster app, It's elfst e or Elvester. The trial resumed
(08:07):
after the weekend. On March thirteenth. Terry Lyn McClintic, who pleaded guilty
to murder in two thousand and ten, took the stand. She detailed the
last few hours of Tory Stafford's life, saying she lured her to Raffertys car
under the guise that she would showher a dog. Rafferty had said to
just talk about dogs or candy andurged her to kidnap her little girl.
(08:31):
Tory was then forced into the backseatand covered with Rafferty's black peacoat. Rafferty
allegedly complained that the eight year oldwasn't young enough. When Tory asked where
they were going, McClintic said thatshe replied and said they were going for
a drive. Tori asked if shecould go home and promise not to tell
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anyone. She said that she wouldjust say she was playing with her cousin.
They drove along Highway four to oneto Guelph, Ontario, where they
purchased coffee, drugs, garbage bags, and a clawhammer. Mclintic said that
Rafferty then drove into a rural areaand turned down a laneway. She then
described the brutal sexual assault inflicted onTory Stafford. In her initial statement to
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the police, she had said thatRafferty had been the one to kill Tory,
but on the stand she said thatit had been her who had kicked
and beat the girl before moving herbody under a tree. The pair went
to great length to conceal their crime, including messing up the tire tracks on
the laneway. They cleaned the carinside and out, changed their clothes,
disposed of the evidence in dumpsters orby throwing them out the window. Rafferty
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even had mclintic cut sections out ofthe backseat as they drove back to Woodstock.
Terry Lin McClintic had several convictions anda bad temper. She had a
troubled youth. Her biological mother wasan exotic dancer who couldn't raise her and
gave her to another dancer named Carol. Carol already had two children who had
(10:03):
been taken into care, and sheand Terry Lynn moved at least eight times
before they arrived in Woodstock. Theyear before Tory Stafford was taken Children's Aid
had been warned about abuse in druguse in the home, but nothing was
done. Mcclintick had to look afterherself and unfortunately followed in her adopted mother's
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footsteps and began smoking cannabis aged justeighty years old, before graduating to harder
drugs like cocaine, xtac, morphine, and oxycontim. She'd left school after
Grade A and became increasingly violent bythe time she was seventeen. She had
six assault convictions, including one incidentwhere she adopted mother so hard in the
(10:46):
face that she caused her to losemost of her vision in one eye.
After moving to Woodstock in two thousandand eight, she was arrested for robbing
two people, one which she stabbedand then arrest According to one of Carrol's
other children, Terry, Lynn andCarrol would shoot up OxyContin and per casette
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together. Carol was on disability benefitsand also sold drugs to fund her addiction.
McClintic claims had been sexually abused bymen Carol would bring home, and
she kept a journal filled with violentfantasies, some of which she expressed to
a friend while incarcerated in two thousandand eight. She said, I just
want to be on the road andtake the first person I see, grab
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them, bring them with me,mutilate the shit out of them, smash
their skull apart, then piece ittogether like a puzzle. That way they
stay conscious of the pain I'm inflictingon them. As a child, she
admitted putting a dog in a micwaveuntil it's green. The dog had to
be put down as a result.She said that she met Rapperty several months
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before Torry's murder, and they oftentook drugs or had sex. McClintic's testimony
continued the following day. It wasbild that after she was arrested for an
unrelated warrant in April two thousand andnine, she had listed Rafferty as her
boyfriend so that he could visit herin the detention center. Rafferty was questioned
after this as an associate of mcclintics, but denied being in a relationship with
(12:16):
her or knowing anything about Tory Stafford'sabduction. Rafferty went to visit McClintic in
jail and they spoke on the phone. McClintic said they had planned on running
away together like Bonnie and Clyde,and that she'd take the fall for everything,
saying he had more to lose thanI did. I'm an eighteen year
old drunkie anyway, Rafferty allegedly replied, you'll do anything for a bit of
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larvae. Evidence was presented from mclintic'sjournal. She'd written down questions the police
may ask her and answered that Raffertyhad told her to provide it was a
lie based on meeting Tory on thestreet for a few minutes before driving to
get shopping. When she spoke withthe police on May nineteenth, she said
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that she admitted what happened because shefelt like it was the right thing to
do. Just the week before shewas arrested, she had been distributing missing
Persons flyers to help find Tory whileshe knew exactly where she was. The
jury were given a break on Marchfifteenth, as the legal teams discussed an
issue that had arisen, and mcclintock continued to speak from the dock.
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The following day, Crown Attorney KevinGowdie began questioning with clintock on the statement
she gave to police about Tory's murder. In it, she'd stated that Rafferty
had been the one to kill Tory, but on the stand she insisted as
she had been the one who wieldedthe claw hammer and kicked the girl.
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Video evidence of the interview was shownto the court, in which mc clintock
was shown saying there had been Raffertythat killed Tory and only admitting to kicking
her a couple of times. Whenasked why she had now changed the story,
mc clintock said, I could notaccept that I was capable of committing
something so heinous. She said thatit had been Rafferty who wanted to abduct
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and rape a child, so shewanted him to be the monster that killed
her as well. She said thatif she didn't say it was him,
he could have gone and done itagain to another child. Just as Heeney
told the jury that they could notuse mc clintic's untoworn statement to the police
to decide the case because she hadinsisted under oath at trial that she'd been
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the one to kill Tory. Thejury could use her conflicting statements to determine
her credibility, though the corps wasdismissed until March twenty first, and just
as Heney reminded the juries to keepa completely open mind, as it only
heard evidence from the prosecution and thetrial would continue for some time. On
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mc glindick's fourth day on the witnessstand, she was cross examined by the
defense attorney Durstine. Attorney Durstine askedabout the letters she had written while incarcerated
between two thousand and seven and twothousand and eight, in which she referred
were fantasies about killing and torturing others. She spoke about wanting to go on
a killing spree and wanting to fightwhile in jail. In response, McClintic
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said she had been full of angerand rage at that time of her life
and could not recall all of thethings she said or did. Durstine spoke
about her clearly violent tendencies, speakingabout the assaults she had committed on her
mother and others. In one instance, she had held her mother in a
choke hold one hand while repeatingly punchingher in the face with the other,
causing her to lose some vision inher eye. Photographic evidence of her mother's
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injuries were admitted into evidence, aswas the rest of mc clintic's criminal history,
which was extremely violent. She hadbeen charged with assault after punching her
mother in the back of the head. She said it was because her mother
had burned her with a cigarette.Another time, she had attempted to rob
two men while holding a knife andeven abbed one of them. When the
police arrived, she did not complyand punched an officer in the face.
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McClintic said she had been seeing counselorsto deal with her anger issues and did
not deny that she had a historyof violence. She denied ever being violent
to children, and she could notcomprehend the fact that a child lost their
life by her hands. Just asHeeney made the decision to allow mclintic's interview
tape into evidence, he had saidthat it could only be used to determine
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mclintic's credibility, but now the jurorscould use her statements to police as evidence
in deciding the case. He didemphasize that sporn evidence, like trial testimony,
is stronger than that made outside ofa court. During the interview tape,
McClintic speaks about how Tory begs herto stop property as he sexually assaults
her, and that she saw Rappertykick the girl more than once before he
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killed her with the hammer. Thefollowing day, McClintic was asked about her
relationship with the defendant, Michael Rapperty. She said they'd been seeing each other
and at one stage had gone toa pawn shop to try on rings.
Attorney Durstein asked why, if theyhad only been seeing each other, would
she go along with his plan toabduct a child. She responded that he
had a very powerful role in herlife at that time. Mc clintock said
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that Rafferty called her a few daysafter the murder and told her to change
her appearance, so she dyed herhair. Attorney Durstein asked mc clintick if
her story would change again, andshe replied that it had taken her a
long time to except that she wascapable of something like that, but now
that she had come to terms withit, she was telling the truth and
her story would not change. OnMarch twenty third, attorneys for the defense
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said that Michael Rafferty did not knowthat mc clintick was going to abduct a
child, and that mc clintick hadbeen the engine in the case. She
had been the one to lower Torreyaway, she was the one seen buying
the murder weapon. Mc clintick saidshe had been instructed to do so by
Rafferty, but the defense attorney saidthat she had brought Tory to the car
and offered her to Rafferty sexually,then when he was uninterested, she instructed
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him to drive to a mote areawhere she told Rafferty to walk away.
The defensive scenario was one in whichMcClintic pretended Tory was afraid of Rafferty,
and while he stepped away, shekilled a little girl, leaving Rafferty horrified,
but he offered to help cover itup. McClintic completely denied that that
was what happened. Next to testifywas Ontario Provincial Police Detective Constable Colin Darman.
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He said that there had been manypersons of interest investigated after over five
thousand tips came into the team.McClintic's name came up time and time again
as a known associate of tarm McDonaldand her boyfriend James Gorris. When the
police spoke with the mcclintics neighbors,they were told about Rafferty. The police
met with Rafferty at his home,and an audio recording of the interview was
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played in court. He said thathe only knew of Tory Staffer's disappearance for
media reports and he was just friendswith McClintic and was helping her mother while
she was in jail. After learningthat Rafferty drove a car similar to the
one scene on CCTV the day Torywas abducted, the police planned to take
photos, but the car was notpresent when they returned the following day.
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Detective Constable Garman said that Rafferty hadno previous criminal history when they began looking
at him after Tory's abduction. OnMarch twenty seventh, and woman named Barbara
Armstrong testified that she had sold drugsto Michael Rafferty from her home in Guelph
on April eighth, two thousand andnine, at around four thirty pm.
Miss Armstrong said that Rafferty had parkedhis blue Hunted Civic near the house,
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and while he was inside buying percocets, a dark haired woman was sitting in
the car waiting. The prosecution saidthat mclintic was the dark haired woman and
that she was in the car withTory Stafford. Miss Armstrong said she had
met Rafferty a bit a week laterand he looked super stressed. She said
he told her that he hadn't beensleeping or eating well. They also discussed
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Tory Stafford's disappearance. Rafferty said thathe heard the girl's mother owed drug money
and that he planned to help lookfor her. Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Dave
Viddy spoke about CCTV footage that hadbeen obtained showing stops McClintic and Rafferty made
along their route to the crime scene. Sergeant Fiddy also showed the court Rafferty's
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bank records showing he had withdrawn eightydollars in cash from a gas station along
the way, money that McClintic usedto buy the hammer and garbage bags.
She was shown on CCTV in thehome depot calmly purchasing the items that would
be later used to kill and hideTory Stafford. Constable Gary Skoyne, who
had testified, previously presented photographic evidenceof what Rafferty and McClintic did in Guelph
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on the day Tory was killed.On March twenty eighth, a woman named
Lillian Metcalf testified that around the timeof Tories made as, she'd been walking
alongside Road six and found a pairof white shoes and a single trainer.
Miss Metcalf took the pair of shoeshome, where she washed them with the
intention of donating them to charity.On May thirty, police were canvassing the
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area and she described there had beena backseat of a car in the area
along the road a few weeks previously, but it wasn't there any more.
After she described finding the shoes,the officer asked her about them, and
she responded that she still had themin the house. The blue and white
shack baseball shoes were identified by McClinticas belonging to her. They were the
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shoe she'd thrown out the car windowafter Tory was murdered. After a break,
the trial resumed on March thirtieth.Detective Sergeant Jim Smith from the Ontario
Provincial Police testified in the morning.Detective Smith is a widely respected officer who
happened to be the one. RussellWilliams, the military man turned murderer,
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confessed to Smith, said that hewas brought in with the opp on April
seventeenth to assist in the investigation ofTory Stafford's abduction. Smith interviewed McClintic on
May nineteenth, and she admitted herinvolvement in tory subduction and murder. She
also said that Michael Rafty had rapedand killed the child. When McClintic agreed
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to assist the offices in their searchfor tories remains, Smith brought her to
Guelph, but McClintic was unsure ofwhat direction they'd taken. Smith bought McClintic
on searches a number of times,including aerial searches, but they found nothing.
After obtaining cell phone records from Rafferty'sphone on July seventeenth, Smith realized
they'd not been searching far enough.North phone records placed Rafferty in the Mount
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Forest area on April eighth. OnJuly seventeenth, Smith went to Mount Forest
to do some reconnaissance and provide searchteams with suggested areas to check, but
when he was driving, he recognizedthe house as being similar to the one
McClintic has described as being at anangle. He noticed it was across the
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road from the house. Driving downthe laneway, he crossed the culver as
McClintic had said, and at thetop of the inclined laneway he saw a
rock pile among evergreen trees, justas McClintic had described. He got closer
to the rock pile, he noteda slight odor of what he believed to
be decomposition. After taking a rockoff the pile and touching a green garbage
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bag, he said he believed thathe'd finally found Victoria Stafford. He called
it in an Investigators arrived on thescene shortly after, with forensic teams and
the pathologist. Detective Sergeant Smith attendedTory Stafford's funeral on July thirty feet and
then had no further involvement in thecase. Constable Garry Scoyne had called to
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testify again. He went through photographstaken of the crime scene, the lane
way, the tree line, therockpile, the broken body beneath the garbage
bags. The next day, jurorswere taken to the scene to better understand
the testimony and evidence. It hadbeen presented in court on April third.
The owner of the land Tory's bodywas found on, testified that he rarely
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uses the lane way and that theconditions around April eighth, twenty and nine
were wet, slushy, and coveredwith snow. Doctor Michael Pollinan testified about
the autopsy he conducted on Tory Stafford'sbody the day after it was discovered.
Doctor Pollinan said that a little girlwas found wearing only a T shirt and
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the clothing she'd been wearing on thelower half was not recovered. Her bath
fly earrings were also found with herbody. As graphic autopsy photographs were shown
to the jury, doctor Pollinan describedthe injuries that could be seen. There
were numerous rib factors that doctor Pollinanbelieved to have been caused by kicking or
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stomping. When he examined the lungtissue, he found evidence of liver damage,
which meant that Tory was lightly alivewhen her liver was lacerated. This
would have caused internal bleeding and incrediblepain. She had received at least four
blows to the head with a hammer, some penetrating her skull. The internal
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bleeding may have contributed her death,but the blows inflicted by the clawhammer were
fatal. The level of decomposition meantthat it was impossible to determine if she
was sexually assaulted. Throughout the trial, many of Tory's family members wore purple,
her favorite color. On the daythat the pathologist listed the horrific manner
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in which she died, Michael Raffertywore a purple shirt. Doctor Pollinan was
cross examined the following day. AttorneyDurstin asked him to clarify that science and
his skills as a pathologist could nottell the court who inflicted the wounds,
which doctor Pollinan agreed was correct.Durstin also asked about any evidence of sexual
(25:41):
assault. The pathologists had already saidthat the remains were too decomposed and answered
that the medical evidence was silent onsexual assault. Sergeant John James Sterling of
the opp testified that the search effortsundertaken by officers from a number of different
forces, the hundreds of has coveredmore than eighteen thousand kilometers, the largest
(26:03):
operation in Ontario. Sergeants Terling saidwe weren't one and a half times around
the moon. McClintic was flown hundredsof kilometers in a helicopter looking for something
familiar to try and pinpoint the locationof Tori's body, and over fifty kilometers
of the highway were searched on footto try and find the evidence that McClintic
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had said she's thrown out the window. Testimony was given about Rafferty's arrest on
May nineteenth, two thousand and nine, and evidence that were seized from his
home, his car, and mclintic'shome too. In McClintic's home, they
found a missing person's poster for Toryand a piece of paper with Tara's number
written on it with the words Tory'smother. There was also a box of
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hair's I found. A missing person'sposter of for Tori was also found in
Rafty's home, and a receipt forthe hair dye found in McClintic's home.
Police also found the black peak Nicsaid was used to hide Tory in the
backseat of the car. Two blondehairs were found on the coat. Constable
Scoyne showed photos of the evidence tothe jury, including water bottles with caps
(27:11):
like the ones found at Tory's body. Speaking about the evidence found in the
Honda Civic, Rafferty zoned Consortable Scoynesaid that it had been painted on the
inside with white spray paint and thewindow handles in the back of the car
had been removed. A jim bagwas found in the car. On it
was a mixture of blood from Toryand semen from Rafferty. Forensic biologist Jennifer
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McLean testified that a sample of bloodcollective from the rear passenger door molding was
compared to Tory Stafford's DNA. Aprofile had been created using DNA from her
parents. One of her teeth andhair from a cone. The DNA found
matched her profile, meaning the unlikelihoodthat it was not her blood was one
in one hundred and fifty trillion.The mixture of blood and semen found on
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the back of the front passengers itcould not be directly matched to anyone,
but it also could not exclude Raffertyor Tory. A piece of fabric was
found inside the Honda Civic when policeseized it. A fiber expert from the
Center of Forensic Sciences, Barbara Dupe, said that it had been cut with
a knife and matched a sample takenfrom another Honda Civic, Bolstering mcclintics claim
(28:19):
that Rafferty had instructed her to cuta portion of the seat out with a
knife. On April twelfth, moretestimony was given about Rafferty from a woman
he'd met on a dating site.She said that following Tory's abduction, Rafferty
would constantly check media reports on thecase, and claimed to have inside information
(28:40):
about her mother's drug use. SarahHodge said that when she met Rafferty,
the backseat of his Civic had beenremoved. She also said that he'd changed
his status on the dating site tobring Tory home. Neighbors of Rafferty testified
that they'd seen a car seat infront of his home for Garb to pick
up around the same time. Raffertyseemed to be a serial data as many
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more of the witnesses were women hewas seeing at the time. One said
that he knew the Mountforest area welland they'd driven down side roads there before.
A landscaper who'd employed Rafferty told thejury that he'd worked at a landfill
about five kilometers from the lane way, the where Tory was killed. Other
(29:25):
women he dated gave evidence about hisbehavior and demeanor following McClintic's arrest, and
how he spoke about feeling as ifhe was treated as guilty by association.
On April nineteenth, the court wasshown Rafferty's cell phone records, showing that
although he used his phone in theMountforest area on April eighth, two thousand
and nine, there were times whenhis phone showed no activity, unusual for
(29:47):
the man who was dating almost adozen women at the same time. More
evidence of Rafferty's character was admitted.One ex girlfriend told of how he'd asked
her to work as an escort andhad received almost se ten thousand dollars from
her in a six month period.His phone records also showed calls between him
(30:07):
and McClintic while she was in aGennis Center for Youth detention center. The
Crown finished presenting evidence and the defensecalled one witness. The woman said that
she saw a young woman wearing awhite ski jacket near the school on the
day that Tory was abducted, andthat she seemed like a woman on a
mission. She said that she sawa little girl following the woman and she
(30:30):
seemed happy. The witness stated thatshe was not happy to testify for the
defense. Closing arguments began on Mayseventh. Attorney Durstine for the defense,
said that McClintic was an accomplished lawyerand the engine behind Tory Stafford's abduction and
murder. He pointed out inconsistent seasonor statements and called her credibility into question,
(30:52):
saying that she willfully, carefully,and with real skill, attempted and
often succeeded in misleading police officers.He asked the jury to act without emotion
and judge it fairly, despite itbeing set against an unspeakable tragedy. It
was the defense's contention that Rafferty wasjust a spectator and had no idea that
McClintic was going to abduct or killthe young woman. Attorney Deerstein said there
(31:17):
was no medical evidence that Rafferty rapedTory Stafford, and there was no evidence
he orchestrated her kidnapping and murder.The defense attorney told the jury that McClintic
lied about everything except one thing,saying, I still urge you to find
that you could find beyond a reasonabledoubt that she was the one who bashed
in poor Tory Stafford's head. Thefollowing day, the Crown gave their closing
(31:41):
argument. Attorney Gouty said Rafferty knewfrom the very beginning because he was the
leader of the operation, and thatthere was no way he would go along
with a kidnapping otherwise. The attorneysaid that mclintic was a violent pawn used
to carry out Rafferty's plan, andthat they acted together and were guilty together.
(32:01):
It was the prosecution's allegation that Raffertydrove Tory to Mount Forest because he
knew it was a remote area wherehe could abuse, kill, and conceal
Tory Stafford. Attorney Gouty summarized theevidence presented throughout the lengthy trial and played
clips from Rafferty's interview with the policeand clips that showed he was lying.
The prosecutor went through twenty five thingsthat mclintick had said that were backed up
(32:24):
by evidence, saying that she wasmore credible than defense would have them believe.
The big inconsistency was that she changedher story to say that she was
the one who killed Tory, amove which Attorney Gouty believed was to try
and avoid testifying at the trial.He said, don't believe everything she says,
(32:44):
but do believe something she says.She is not an innocent eye witness.
The attorney explained to the jury thedifferent manners in which a person could
be found guilty of firstregree murder,intentionally killing them, killing them in the
course of a kidnapping, or helpsomeone else commit murder. Goudy said that
it didn't matter who actually dealt thefatal blow, because they acted together,
(33:07):
that was enough to convict. Tofurther bolts through their contention that McClintic was
lying about being the one to killTori, they said that her excuse of
snapping due to childhood trauma would morelikely lead her to kill the man who
was sexually assaulting a child, notthe child. He said that Rapert he
visited McClintic when she was in juveniledetention because he wanted to maintain control over
(33:29):
her and make sure she didn't tellthe police the truth. The following day,
Justice Thomas Heeney gave the jury instructionsbefore they were due to deliberate.
He told them that for the murdercharge, they could return a verdict of
guilty of manslaughter if they believe mclinticwas the one to kill Tori, guilty
of second or first degree murder ornot guilty. They also had to return
(33:51):
a verdict of guilty or not guiltyof abduction and sexual assault. He instructed
the jury to rise above emotional considerationand told them dispassionately decide the case based
solely on the evidence and the law. They were then sent to deliberate.
The eight week trial had seen sixtyone witnesses take the stand and almost two
(34:12):
hundred pieces of evidence exhibited. Thefollowing day, May eleven, twenty eleven,
the jury reached a verdict in thecourtroom. They returned a verdict of
guilty of first degree murder, sexualassault causing bodily harm, and kidnapping.
Michael Rafferty was remanded into custody untilthe sentencing hearing on May fifteenth. On
(34:34):
May fifteenth, Victoria's older brother,Darren, delivered a heartbreaking statement at Rafferty
sentencing hearing. He spoke how hislife had changed, how he had been
impacted. He said his mother wasan addict to deal with the loss,
and his father always had what happenedon his mind. He felt like he
was known as Victoria Stafford's brother.Michael Rafferty then delivered his own statement.
(34:57):
In it, he said that hewould give Victoria's mothers the missing pieces of
the puzzle if she wanted them.He also maintained that he was innocent.
Georgini said that the verdict was justlyand amply supported by evidence, and sentenced
Raperty to the mandatory sentence for murderof life in prison, no possibility of
parole for twenty five years, withten years to be served concurrently for both
(35:19):
the kidnapping and sexual assault charges,just as hen, he said, your
crimes have destroyed the lives of VictoriaStafford's parents, her brother, her extended
family and loved ones. They haveterrorized an entire community who had thought its
children could safely walk its streets,little knowing that people such as you lurked
among them. That you were broughtto justice as due entirely to the most
(35:40):
massive and extraordinary mobilization of police resourcesthat this province and probably this country has
ever seen. You've snuffed out thelife of a beautiful, talented, vivacious
little girl, and for what sothat you could gratify your twisted and deviant
desire to have sex with a child. Only a monster could commit an act
(36:00):
of such pure evil. You,sir, are a monster. Statements by
Tori's family were read in court.Tara, her mother, said that she
still had to deal with people thinkingshe was involved in her daughter's murder,
and that every milestone she was lookingforward to, like graduation or her wedding,
had been replaced by anniversaries of herabduction and the day she was found
(36:22):
dead. Darren, Tori's brother,wrote a statement that was read by a
member of the prosecution, attorney StephanieVenn. In it, he said how
close he had been to tor andnow how he felt alone and as if
there was an empty spot in hisheart. He spoke about how he had
to go to counseling and suffered fromlow self esteem and anxiety. He said
(36:45):
that he was lost without his baby, sister and best friend. It had
been publicized after the jury began,deliberating that some evidence had not been admitted
into the trial. Information uncovered onRafferty's BlackBerry and computer showed that he had
child sex abuse images and had searchedon the internet for a violent child abuse
imagery. Victoria Stafford's family had towait one hundred and three days for her
(37:07):
body to be found and three yearsfor justice. Michael Rafferty attempted to appeal
his conviction and was denied le galade. The taxpayer had to fund his appeal.
The appeal stated that the trial judgemade a number of errors when instructing
the jury and in admitting certain evidenceinto court. Attorney Paul Clarko represented Rafferty
(37:31):
in the Pellet hearing and said thatRafferty's actions after Torrey's murder were consistent with
being in accessory after the fact,like when he disposed of his clothes backseat
at the car, gave a falsealibi, and light the police Consistently.
The Court of Appeal said there wassimply no evidence upon which a properly instructed
(37:52):
jury acting reasonably could have found theappellent guilty solely of being in accessory.
It was by evidential found or airof reality for the appellents submission that he
was simply helping mclintic after she committedthe offenses. On the contrary, a
large body of evidence contradicted this theory. Appeal Court Justice John Laskian rebuted Clarko
(38:16):
when the attorney said the trial judgeaired when he did not issue a Retrovec
warning to the jury. A Vetrovichwarning is when the trial judge advises a
jury to consider the reliability of thetestimony when it's coming from a witness with
poor credibility. The content of thiswarning is discretionary, and the judge can
decide what to say or if tosay anything. The defense attorney at Rafferty's
(38:42):
trial had not asked the judge togive the jury a Vetrovec warning, likely
to allow the defense to discredit mclinticas a witnessed themselves and strengthen any future
appeals, just as Heeney did advisethe jury that McClintic had changed her statement
in her sworn testimony and to considerthat when they were assessing her credibility.
(39:04):
The appeal court found no errors madeand told Clarco that he had argued an
extremely difficult appeal very well, butthe appellate judge simply did not agree with
him and dismissed the case before theCrown even had to make their submissions to
contest it. Following the high levelof publicity the case received and the prominence
of drug abuse within those surrounding ToryStafford Woodstock was labeled as somewhere with severe
(39:29):
OxyContin problem. Approved in the midnineties, OxyContin became the most prescribed branded
narcotic medication for people with moderate tosevere pain. It was marked as being
non addictive and safe. Less thana decade later, more and more reports
came in about the misuse of theprescription medication, which contains the opioid oxycodone.
(39:52):
The drug was marketed fiercely as atreatment for pain in counter patients and
patients without cancer who suffered from mildto severe PA. General practitioners and primary
care specialists are encouraged to prescribe thedrug, which is twice as potent as
morphine. According to the National Instituteon Drug Abuse, almost fifty thousand people
in the United States died from opioidrelated overdoses in twenty nineteen. One in
(40:16):
five people prescribed opioids will misuse themfour to six percent of those will transition
to heroin. While over prescribing ofopioids is one of the main causes of
this crisis, another is that thedrug offers an escape to people in disadvantage
socioeconomic circumstances. Although suffering from abuseor trauma, there is no easy fix.
(40:40):
New formulas of analgesic opioids, whichare supposed to be harder to interfere
with and misuse can lead to desperationand demand in those addicted. Fence Nil,
a synthetic opioid that is fifty toone hundred times more potent than morphine,
is produced and distributed illegally. Thisis the most common drug involved in
dose deaths in the US. Thereneeds to be a safer environment for addicts
(41:05):
and more accessible services for them toget help through medication like methadone and psychological
therapy. Terry Lin McClintic, who'snot eligible for parole for another decade,
was transferred to an Indigenous Healing Lodgeok More, ok. It's a healing
lodge for Aboriginal women or Nacinete FirstNation in Saskatchewan, from the Grand Valley
(41:29):
Institution for Women, where she'd beenserving her sentence. The healing Lodge works
in a similar way to prison,but it's focuses on healing. It's not
as restrictive as a medium security prisonand works with offenders and Indigenous elders to
rehabilitate them. McClintic's family denies shehas indigenous ancestry, so moving the convicted
(41:51):
child killer to a minimum security facilitythat teaches a residents the practices of cultures
and values of the Nacinete seemed likeMcClintic was receiving vileges, and although she
seems remorseful in her statement at herplea hearing and during Raffty's trial, she's
not changed her out violent ways.In twenty and twelve, she was convicted
(42:12):
for kicking and beating another inmate asthey lay on the floor, and said
that her only regret was not causingthe women more severe injuries than she had.
New policy changes meant that McClintic wastransferred back to prison from the Healing
Lodge. Victoria Stafford would be twentyone years old today if she'd not been
abducted by Terry Lyn mclintic and MichaelRafferty. Rodney Stafford continues to campaign for
(42:37):
victims, support for those impacted byhomicide, and just recently called her a
review of the Canadian Victim Bill ofRights. He also completed a charity bike
ride to raise funds. Tara McDonaldstruggled to get past the public perception of
her as a bad mother, despiteher having nothing to do with Tory's abduction
and murder. She suffered with posttraumatic stress disorder, but has since started
(43:00):
practicing as a dula, assisting womenas they give birth. In an interview
with CTV, she said that HassanDarren was studying and has started his own
online business. He'd posted on socialmedia that's saying I'm doing this for us,
Victoria. Everything I do, Ido for the both of us.
(43:28):
Thank you for listening to this episodeof Crime Laps. Crime Laps is an
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(43:52):
a five star review. You cankeep up to date with us on social
media at Crime Laps on Instagram andFacebook. I'm not cry, Let's put
it on Twitter. Stacey
This is either two people whose liveswere overtaken by drugs and all the stress
and everything that goes on and theymade a bad decision. I made a
bad, bad mistake. Or thisis two cold blooded psychopaths who were planning
and plotting snatch an innocent little girloff the street. Welcome to crime Laps.
(00:26):
I am Aileen and I'm Charlie.This is complicity. In February two
eleven, Rafferty was granted a changeof venue from Woodstock to London, Ontario
because it was felt that he wouldnot get a fair trial. Jury selection
began on February twenty seven, twoeleven. Over one thousand people were pulled
(00:49):
and questioned to be part of thetwelve person jury. The potential members were
questioned on whether they felt the pretrial publicity would affect their ability to do
their duty. Took a week.The trial opened on March fifth in London,
Ontario, just as Thomas Heeney hadwarned the jury that the trial could
last several months due to the natureand length of the trial. Jurors were
(01:11):
paid forty dollars per day from thefirst day, which would increase to one
hundred dollars per day from the twentyfifth day of trial, more than a
typical jury receives. Crown Attorney KevinGoudy opened for the prosecution and warned them
that the evidence that would be presentedwould be graphic and hard to hear.
He laid out the prosecution's case thatTory Stafford was found wearing just a Hannah
(01:34):
Montana T shirt one hundred and threedays after she went missing. A pathologist
would testify that she had suffered multipleblows to the head with a hammer and
blunt force impacts her body that hadfractured her ribs and lacerated her liver.
Attorney Goudy told the jury that MichaelRafferty and and Terry Lynn mcclintick had abducted,
(01:55):
sexually assaulted, and brutally beaten thelittle girl to death before hiding her
remains in a secluded location. AttorneyGoudy informed the jury that it was not
up to them to figure out whohad doubt the fatal blows to the little
girl, but to determine whether ornot the accused and McClintic had acted together.
He said, in the end,it is not necessary or essential that
(02:15):
you'd determine exactly who did what,For example, which of the two delivered
the hammer blows to the skull orwho inflicted the trauma to Tori's body that
last lacerated her liver broke her ribs. Attorney Goudy also said that McClintic would
be called to testify and that whenthe jury heard her evidence, they would
unquestionably be disturbed by the choices thatshe made with Michael Rafferty. He also
(02:38):
acknowledged that McClintic's credibility would be amajor issue in the case because of the
role she played in Tory's murder,but advised the jurors to listen to her
evidence carefully and cautiously. He toldthe jury about evidence that would be presented,
including Rafferty's Honda Civic, which containedDNA evidence Sitting in the gallery.
During opening proceedings, Rodney Stafford Laytold the media that he had every faith
(03:01):
in the Crown and the police whoinvestigated the case. Rafferty's attorney, Dirk
Durstein, had asked everybody to keepan open mind and not rushed to judgment.
The following day, Laura Perry,the mother of one of Tory's classmates,
testified that she had seen Tory walkingwith a young woman on April eight,
two thousand and nine, and thatthey looked to be in a hurry.
(03:23):
She later spoke at police and helpedthem compose a sketch of the woman
who was seen, who was lateridentified as being Terry Len McClintic. Jennifer
Griffin Morrell, Tori's teacher, testifiedthat she was a happy and attentive student.
Ontario Provincial Police Detective Constable Robin Broccanier. Ontario Provincial Police Detective Constable Robin
(03:46):
Broccanier testified that he had been incharge of obtaining the video footage following Tory's
abduction. He spoke about the CCTVfootage that showed Tory walking with a person
of interest across from College Avenue SecondarySchool towards a retirement home. Car park
footage was also obtained of a darkcolored car pulling into the parking lot and
(04:09):
later leaving again. On the thirdday of evidence, Ontario Provincial Police Constable
Gary Skoyne testified the police that collectedone thousand, one hundred pieces of physical
evidence and took over four thousand photographsduring the investigation. Speaking about the sheer
size of the case. He said, I have worked on major cases before,
(04:31):
but this is the volume of thiswas enormous and the amount of personnel
was too. Constable Scoyne showed thejury fifty two photographs taken of the area
where Tory was last seen. Theyalso saw pictures of College Avenue Secondary School,
where the CCTV footage had been obtainedfrom. Constable Scoyne was in charge
of the exhibit management during the investigationand would be called to testify numerous times
(04:56):
throughout the trial. Oxford Commune thepolice staff Sergeant Paul Hess was also called
to testify for the Crown. Hestated that he became aware of Tory's disappearance
at six or four pm on Aprileighth. A police unit were sent to
Searcher's School and the surrounding area,but no trace of the little girl was
found. Tara McDonald, Tory's mother, also testified on March seventh. She
(05:21):
had not been allowed to attend theearlier proceedings as witnesses must not be influenced
by previous testimony. She said thatshe had suffered from an OxyContin addiction and
had in fact taken drugs on theafternoon of Tory's disappearance. She also admitted
to meeting with Clintic twice before,when she went to her home to purchase
drugs. On April eighth, Tarahad asked Darren to walk Tory home from
(05:45):
school, but he had brought anotherchildhome, and when he went back to
find Tory she was gone. Theybegan looking for her around the neighborhood around
four thirty pm, and Tara calledher mother to help just after five pm.
Their house was just over a blockand a half from the school.
Tara described Tory as a tomboy whowas also a girly girl. She loved
(06:06):
to dress up, but also hadno problem getting dirty or playing with bugs.
This part of who Tori was isembodied in her school photograph. The
little girl had gone to school pictureperfect in a pretty outfit, but snook
a pair of football boots in herbag and wore them for the photo.
The next day. Detective Constable ShawnKelly told the court that after the surveillance
(06:28):
footage of Tory walking with an unknownwoman was released on April ninth, her
mother, Tara had ranged to sayshe recognized the woman as Terry Lynn McClintock.
Mcclintick was later arrested for an outstandingwarrant and what confessed to her involvements.
Some weeks later, Detective Constable Kellystruggled to hold back tears when he
spoke about how the officers spent sixteento twenty hours a day looking for Tory
(06:49):
and then learned that the investigation wentfrom an abduction case Thoma's side. This
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download the Elster app, It's elfst e or Elvester. The trial resumed
(08:07):
after the weekend. On March thirteenth. Terry Lyn McClintic, who pleaded guilty
to murder in two thousand and ten, took the stand. She detailed the
last few hours of Tory Stafford's life, saying she lured her to Raffertys car
under the guise that she would showher a dog. Rafferty had said to
just talk about dogs or candy andurged her to kidnap her little girl.
(08:31):
Tory was then forced into the backseatand covered with Rafferty's black peacoat. Rafferty
allegedly complained that the eight year oldwasn't young enough. When Tory asked where
they were going, McClintic said thatshe replied and said they were going for
a drive. Tori asked if shecould go home and promise not to tell
(08:52):
anyone. She said that she wouldjust say she was playing with her cousin.
They drove along Highway four to oneto Guelph, Ontario, where they
purchased coffee, drugs, garbage bags, and a clawhammer. Mclintic said that
Rafferty then drove into a rural areaand turned down a laneway. She then
described the brutal sexual assault inflicted onTory Stafford. In her initial statement to
(09:18):
the police, she had said thatRafferty had been the one to kill Tory,
but on the stand she said thatit had been her who had kicked
and beat the girl before moving herbody under a tree. The pair went
to great length to conceal their crime, including messing up the tire tracks on
the laneway. They cleaned the carinside and out, changed their clothes,
disposed of the evidence in dumpsters orby throwing them out the window. Rafferty
(09:41):
even had mclintic cut sections out ofthe backseat as they drove back to Woodstock.
Terry Lin McClintic had several convictions anda bad temper. She had a
troubled youth. Her biological mother wasan exotic dancer who couldn't raise her and
gave her to another dancer named Carol. Carol already had two children who had
(10:03):
been taken into care, and sheand Terry Lynn moved at least eight times
before they arrived in Woodstock. Theyear before Tory Stafford was taken Children's Aid
had been warned about abuse in druguse in the home, but nothing was
done. Mcclintick had to look afterherself and unfortunately followed in her adopted mother's
(10:24):
footsteps and began smoking cannabis aged justeighty years old, before graduating to harder
drugs like cocaine, xtac, morphine, and oxycontim. She'd left school after
Grade A and became increasingly violent bythe time she was seventeen. She had
six assault convictions, including one incidentwhere she adopted mother so hard in the
(10:46):
face that she caused her to losemost of her vision in one eye.
After moving to Woodstock in two thousandand eight, she was arrested for robbing
two people, one which she stabbedand then arrest According to one of Carrol's
other children, Terry, Lynn andCarrol would shoot up OxyContin and per casette
(11:07):
together. Carol was on disability benefitsand also sold drugs to fund her addiction.
McClintic claims had been sexually abused bymen Carol would bring home, and
she kept a journal filled with violentfantasies, some of which she expressed to
a friend while incarcerated in two thousandand eight. She said, I just
want to be on the road andtake the first person I see, grab
(11:30):
them, bring them with me,mutilate the shit out of them, smash
their skull apart, then piece ittogether like a puzzle. That way they
stay conscious of the pain I'm inflictingon them. As a child, she
admitted putting a dog in a micwaveuntil it's green. The dog had to
be put down as a result.She said that she met Rapperty several months
(11:52):
before Torry's murder, and they oftentook drugs or had sex. McClintic's testimony
continued the following day. It wasbild that after she was arrested for an
unrelated warrant in April two thousand andnine, she had listed Rafferty as her
boyfriend so that he could visit herin the detention center. Rafferty was questioned
after this as an associate of mcclintics, but denied being in a relationship with
(12:16):
her or knowing anything about Tory Stafford'sabduction. Rafferty went to visit McClintic in
jail and they spoke on the phone. McClintic said they had planned on running
away together like Bonnie and Clyde,and that she'd take the fall for everything,
saying he had more to lose thanI did. I'm an eighteen year
old drunkie anyway, Rafferty allegedly replied, you'll do anything for a bit of
(12:41):
larvae. Evidence was presented from mclintic'sjournal. She'd written down questions the police
may ask her and answered that Raffertyhad told her to provide it was a
lie based on meeting Tory on thestreet for a few minutes before driving to
get shopping. When she spoke withthe police on May nineteenth, she said
(13:03):
that she admitted what happened because shefelt like it was the right thing to
do. Just the week before shewas arrested, she had been distributing missing
Persons flyers to help find Tory whileshe knew exactly where she was. The
jury were given a break on Marchfifteenth, as the legal teams discussed an
issue that had arisen, and mcclintock continued to speak from the dock.
(13:26):
The following day, Crown Attorney KevinGowdie began questioning with clintock on the statement
she gave to police about Tory's murder. In it, she'd stated that Rafferty
had been the one to kill Tory, but on the stand she insisted as
she had been the one who wieldedthe claw hammer and kicked the girl.
(13:48):
Video evidence of the interview was shownto the court, in which mc clintock
was shown saying there had been Raffertythat killed Tory and only admitting to kicking
her a couple of times. Whenasked why she had now changed the story,
mc clintock said, I could notaccept that I was capable of committing
something so heinous. She said thatit had been Rafferty who wanted to abduct
(14:09):
and rape a child, so shewanted him to be the monster that killed
her as well. She said thatif she didn't say it was him,
he could have gone and done itagain to another child. Just as Heeney
told the jury that they could notuse mc clintic's untoworn statement to the police
to decide the case because she hadinsisted under oath at trial that she'd been
(14:33):
the one to kill Tory. Thejury could use her conflicting statements to determine
her credibility, though the corps wasdismissed until March twenty first, and just
as Heney reminded the juries to keepa completely open mind, as it only
heard evidence from the prosecution and thetrial would continue for some time. On
(14:54):
mc glindick's fourth day on the witnessstand, she was cross examined by the
defense attorney Durstine. Attorney Durstine askedabout the letters she had written while incarcerated
between two thousand and seven and twothousand and eight, in which she referred
were fantasies about killing and torturing others. She spoke about wanting to go on
a killing spree and wanting to fightwhile in jail. In response, McClintic
(15:16):
said she had been full of angerand rage at that time of her life
and could not recall all of thethings she said or did. Durstine spoke
about her clearly violent tendencies, speakingabout the assaults she had committed on her
mother and others. In one instance, she had held her mother in a
choke hold one hand while repeatingly punchingher in the face with the other,
causing her to lose some vision inher eye. Photographic evidence of her mother's
(15:41):
injuries were admitted into evidence, aswas the rest of mc clintic's criminal history,
which was extremely violent. She hadbeen charged with assault after punching her
mother in the back of the head. She said it was because her mother
had burned her with a cigarette.Another time, she had attempted to rob
two men while holding a knife andeven abbed one of them. When the
police arrived, she did not complyand punched an officer in the face.
(16:06):
McClintic said she had been seeing counselorsto deal with her anger issues and did
not deny that she had a historyof violence. She denied ever being violent
to children, and she could notcomprehend the fact that a child lost their
life by her hands. Just asHeeney made the decision to allow mclintic's interview
tape into evidence, he had saidthat it could only be used to determine
(16:26):
mclintic's credibility, but now the jurorscould use her statements to police as evidence
in deciding the case. He didemphasize that sporn evidence, like trial testimony,
is stronger than that made outside ofa court. During the interview tape,
McClintic speaks about how Tory begs herto stop property as he sexually assaults
her, and that she saw Rappertykick the girl more than once before he
(16:48):
killed her with the hammer. Thefollowing day, McClintic was asked about her
relationship with the defendant, Michael Rapperty. She said they'd been seeing each other
and at one stage had gone toa pawn shop to try on rings.
Attorney Durstein asked why, if theyhad only been seeing each other, would
she go along with his plan toabduct a child. She responded that he
had a very powerful role in herlife at that time. Mc clintock said
(17:12):
that Rafferty called her a few daysafter the murder and told her to change
her appearance, so she dyed herhair. Attorney Durstein asked mc clintick if
her story would change again, andshe replied that it had taken her a
long time to except that she wascapable of something like that, but now
that she had come to terms withit, she was telling the truth and
her story would not change. OnMarch twenty third, attorneys for the defense
(17:36):
said that Michael Rafferty did not knowthat mc clintick was going to abduct a
child, and that mc clintick hadbeen the engine in the case. She
had been the one to lower Torreyaway, she was the one seen buying
the murder weapon. Mc clintick saidshe had been instructed to do so by
Rafferty, but the defense attorney saidthat she had brought Tory to the car
and offered her to Rafferty sexually,then when he was uninterested, she instructed
(17:59):
him to drive to a mote areawhere she told Rafferty to walk away.
The defensive scenario was one in whichMcClintic pretended Tory was afraid of Rafferty,
and while he stepped away, shekilled a little girl, leaving Rafferty horrified,
but he offered to help cover itup. McClintic completely denied that that
was what happened. Next to testifywas Ontario Provincial Police Detective Constable Colin Darman.
(18:23):
He said that there had been manypersons of interest investigated after over five
thousand tips came into the team.McClintic's name came up time and time again
as a known associate of tarm McDonaldand her boyfriend James Gorris. When the
police spoke with the mcclintics neighbors,they were told about Rafferty. The police
met with Rafferty at his home,and an audio recording of the interview was
(18:45):
played in court. He said thathe only knew of Tory Staffer's disappearance for
media reports and he was just friendswith McClintic and was helping her mother while
she was in jail. After learningthat Rafferty drove a car similar to the
one scene on CCTV the day Torywas abducted, the police planned to take
photos, but the car was notpresent when they returned the following day.
(19:07):
Detective Constable Garman said that Rafferty hadno previous criminal history when they began looking
at him after Tory's abduction. OnMarch twenty seventh, and woman named Barbara
Armstrong testified that she had sold drugsto Michael Rafferty from her home in Guelph
on April eighth, two thousand andnine, at around four thirty pm.
Miss Armstrong said that Rafferty had parkedhis blue Hunted Civic near the house,
(19:30):
and while he was inside buying percocets, a dark haired woman was sitting in
the car waiting. The prosecution saidthat mclintic was the dark haired woman and
that she was in the car withTory Stafford. Miss Armstrong said she had
met Rafferty a bit a week laterand he looked super stressed. She said
he told her that he hadn't beensleeping or eating well. They also discussed
(19:52):
Tory Stafford's disappearance. Rafferty said thathe heard the girl's mother owed drug money
and that he planned to help lookfor her. Ontario Provincial Police Sergeant Dave
Viddy spoke about CCTV footage that hadbeen obtained showing stops McClintic and Rafferty made
along their route to the crime scene. Sergeant Fiddy also showed the court Rafferty's
(20:14):
bank records showing he had withdrawn eightydollars in cash from a gas station along
the way, money that McClintic usedto buy the hammer and garbage bags.
She was shown on CCTV in thehome depot calmly purchasing the items that would
be later used to kill and hideTory Stafford. Constable Gary Skoyne, who
had testified, previously presented photographic evidenceof what Rafferty and McClintic did in Guelph
(20:38):
on the day Tory was killed.On March twenty eighth, a woman named
Lillian Metcalf testified that around the timeof Tories made as, she'd been walking
alongside Road six and found a pairof white shoes and a single trainer.
Miss Metcalf took the pair of shoeshome, where she washed them with the
intention of donating them to charity.On May thirty, police were canvassing the
(21:00):
area and she described there had beena backseat of a car in the area
along the road a few weeks previously, but it wasn't there any more.
After she described finding the shoes,the officer asked her about them, and
she responded that she still had themin the house. The blue and white
shack baseball shoes were identified by McClinticas belonging to her. They were the
(21:22):
shoe she'd thrown out the car windowafter Tory was murdered. After a break,
the trial resumed on March thirtieth.Detective Sergeant Jim Smith from the Ontario
Provincial Police testified in the morning.Detective Smith is a widely respected officer who
happened to be the one. RussellWilliams, the military man turned murderer,
(21:42):
confessed to Smith, said that hewas brought in with the opp on April
seventeenth to assist in the investigation ofTory Stafford's abduction. Smith interviewed McClintic on
May nineteenth, and she admitted herinvolvement in tory subduction and murder. She
also said that Michael Rafty had rapedand killed the child. When McClintic agreed
(22:02):
to assist the offices in their searchfor tories remains, Smith brought her to
Guelph, but McClintic was unsure ofwhat direction they'd taken. Smith bought McClintic
on searches a number of times,including aerial searches, but they found nothing.
After obtaining cell phone records from Rafferty'sphone on July seventeenth, Smith realized
they'd not been searching far enough.North phone records placed Rafferty in the Mount
(22:26):
Forest area on April eighth. OnJuly seventeenth, Smith went to Mount Forest
to do some reconnaissance and provide searchteams with suggested areas to check, but
when he was driving, he recognizedthe house as being similar to the one
McClintic has described as being at anangle. He noticed it was across the
(22:47):
road from the house. Driving downthe laneway, he crossed the culver as
McClintic had said, and at thetop of the inclined laneway he saw a
rock pile among evergreen trees, justas McClintic had described. He got closer
to the rock pile, he noteda slight odor of what he believed to
be decomposition. After taking a rockoff the pile and touching a green garbage
(23:08):
bag, he said he believed thathe'd finally found Victoria Stafford. He called
it in an Investigators arrived on thescene shortly after, with forensic teams and
the pathologist. Detective Sergeant Smith attendedTory Stafford's funeral on July thirty feet and
then had no further involvement in thecase. Constable Garry Scoyne had called to
(23:32):
testify again. He went through photographstaken of the crime scene, the lane
way, the tree line, therockpile, the broken body beneath the garbage
bags. The next day, jurorswere taken to the scene to better understand
the testimony and evidence. It hadbeen presented in court on April third.
The owner of the land Tory's bodywas found on, testified that he rarely
(23:53):
uses the lane way and that theconditions around April eighth, twenty and nine
were wet, slushy, and coveredwith snow. Doctor Michael Pollinan testified about
the autopsy he conducted on Tory Stafford'sbody the day after it was discovered.
Doctor Pollinan said that a little girlwas found wearing only a T shirt and
(24:14):
the clothing she'd been wearing on thelower half was not recovered. Her bath
fly earrings were also found with herbody. As graphic autopsy photographs were shown
to the jury, doctor Pollinan describedthe injuries that could be seen. There
were numerous rib factors that doctor Pollinanbelieved to have been caused by kicking or
(24:36):
stomping. When he examined the lungtissue, he found evidence of liver damage,
which meant that Tory was lightly alivewhen her liver was lacerated. This
would have caused internal bleeding and incrediblepain. She had received at least four
blows to the head with a hammer, some penetrating her skull. The internal
(24:57):
bleeding may have contributed her death,but the blows inflicted by the clawhammer were
fatal. The level of decomposition meantthat it was impossible to determine if she
was sexually assaulted. Throughout the trial, many of Tory's family members wore purple,
her favorite color. On the daythat the pathologist listed the horrific manner
(25:19):
in which she died, Michael Raffertywore a purple shirt. Doctor Pollinan was
cross examined the following day. AttorneyDurstin asked him to clarify that science and
his skills as a pathologist could nottell the court who inflicted the wounds,
which doctor Pollinan agreed was correct.Durstin also asked about any evidence of sexual
(25:41):
assault. The pathologists had already saidthat the remains were too decomposed and answered
that the medical evidence was silent onsexual assault. Sergeant John James Sterling of
the opp testified that the search effortsundertaken by officers from a number of different
forces, the hundreds of has coveredmore than eighteen thousand kilometers, the largest
(26:03):
operation in Ontario. Sergeants Terling saidwe weren't one and a half times around
the moon. McClintic was flown hundredsof kilometers in a helicopter looking for something
familiar to try and pinpoint the locationof Tori's body, and over fifty kilometers
of the highway were searched on footto try and find the evidence that McClintic
(26:26):
had said she's thrown out the window. Testimony was given about Rafferty's arrest on
May nineteenth, two thousand and nine, and evidence that were seized from his
home, his car, and mclintic'shome too. In McClintic's home, they
found a missing person's poster for Toryand a piece of paper with Tara's number
written on it with the words Tory'smother. There was also a box of
(26:48):
hair's I found. A missing person'sposter of for Tori was also found in
Rafty's home, and a receipt forthe hair dye found in McClintic's home.
Police also found the black peak Nicsaid was used to hide Tory in the
backseat of the car. Two blondehairs were found on the coat. Constable
Scoyne showed photos of the evidence tothe jury, including water bottles with caps
(27:11):
like the ones found at Tory's body. Speaking about the evidence found in the
Honda Civic, Rafferty zoned Consortable Scoynesaid that it had been painted on the
inside with white spray paint and thewindow handles in the back of the car
had been removed. A jim bagwas found in the car. On it
was a mixture of blood from Toryand semen from Rafferty. Forensic biologist Jennifer
(27:33):
McLean testified that a sample of bloodcollective from the rear passenger door molding was
compared to Tory Stafford's DNA. Aprofile had been created using DNA from her
parents. One of her teeth andhair from a cone. The DNA found
matched her profile, meaning the unlikelihoodthat it was not her blood was one
in one hundred and fifty trillion.The mixture of blood and semen found on
(27:57):
the back of the front passengers itcould not be directly matched to anyone,
but it also could not exclude Raffertyor Tory. A piece of fabric was
found inside the Honda Civic when policeseized it. A fiber expert from the
Center of Forensic Sciences, Barbara Dupe, said that it had been cut with
a knife and matched a sample takenfrom another Honda Civic, Bolstering mcclintics claim
(28:19):
that Rafferty had instructed her to cuta portion of the seat out with a
knife. On April twelfth, moretestimony was given about Rafferty from a woman
he'd met on a dating site.She said that following Tory's abduction, Rafferty
would constantly check media reports on thecase, and claimed to have inside information
(28:40):
about her mother's drug use. SarahHodge said that when she met Rafferty,
the backseat of his Civic had beenremoved. She also said that he'd changed
his status on the dating site tobring Tory home. Neighbors of Rafferty testified
that they'd seen a car seat infront of his home for Garb to pick
up around the same time. Raffertyseemed to be a serial data as many
(29:04):
more of the witnesses were women hewas seeing at the time. One said
that he knew the Mountforest area welland they'd driven down side roads there before.
A landscaper who'd employed Rafferty told thejury that he'd worked at a landfill
about five kilometers from the lane way, the where Tory was killed. Other
(29:25):
women he dated gave evidence about hisbehavior and demeanor following McClintic's arrest, and
how he spoke about feeling as ifhe was treated as guilty by association.
On April nineteenth, the court wasshown Rafferty's cell phone records, showing that
although he used his phone in theMountforest area on April eighth, two thousand
and nine, there were times whenhis phone showed no activity, unusual for
(29:47):
the man who was dating almost adozen women at the same time. More
evidence of Rafferty's character was admitted.One ex girlfriend told of how he'd asked
her to work as an escort andhad received almost se ten thousand dollars from
her in a six month period.His phone records also showed calls between him
(30:07):
and McClintic while she was in aGennis Center for Youth detention center. The
Crown finished presenting evidence and the defensecalled one witness. The woman said that
she saw a young woman wearing awhite ski jacket near the school on the
day that Tory was abducted, andthat she seemed like a woman on a
mission. She said that she sawa little girl following the woman and she
(30:30):
seemed happy. The witness stated thatshe was not happy to testify for the
defense. Closing arguments began on Mayseventh. Attorney Durstine for the defense,
said that McClintic was an accomplished lawyerand the engine behind Tory Stafford's abduction and
murder. He pointed out inconsistent seasonor statements and called her credibility into question,
(30:52):
saying that she willfully, carefully,and with real skill, attempted and
often succeeded in misleading police officers.He asked the jury to act without emotion
and judge it fairly, despite itbeing set against an unspeakable tragedy. It
was the defense's contention that Rafferty wasjust a spectator and had no idea that
McClintic was going to abduct or killthe young woman. Attorney Deerstein said there
(31:17):
was no medical evidence that Rafferty rapedTory Stafford, and there was no evidence
he orchestrated her kidnapping and murder.The defense attorney told the jury that McClintic
lied about everything except one thing,saying, I still urge you to find
that you could find beyond a reasonabledoubt that she was the one who bashed
in poor Tory Stafford's head. Thefollowing day, the Crown gave their closing
(31:41):
argument. Attorney Gouty said Rafferty knewfrom the very beginning because he was the
leader of the operation, and thatthere was no way he would go along
with a kidnapping otherwise. The attorneysaid that mclintic was a violent pawn used
to carry out Rafferty's plan, andthat they acted together and were guilty together.
(32:01):
It was the prosecution's allegation that Raffertydrove Tory to Mount Forest because he
knew it was a remote area wherehe could abuse, kill, and conceal
Tory Stafford. Attorney Gouty summarized theevidence presented throughout the lengthy trial and played
clips from Rafferty's interview with the policeand clips that showed he was lying.
The prosecutor went through twenty five thingsthat mclintick had said that were backed up
(32:24):
by evidence, saying that she wasmore credible than defense would have them believe.
The big inconsistency was that she changedher story to say that she was
the one who killed Tory, amove which Attorney Gouty believed was to try
and avoid testifying at the trial.He said, don't believe everything she says,
(32:44):
but do believe something she says.She is not an innocent eye witness.
The attorney explained to the jury thedifferent manners in which a person could
be found guilty of firstregree murder,intentionally killing them, killing them in the
course of a kidnapping, or helpsomeone else commit murder. Goudy said that
it didn't matter who actually dealt thefatal blow, because they acted together,
(33:07):
that was enough to convict. Tofurther bolts through their contention that McClintic was
lying about being the one to killTori, they said that her excuse of
snapping due to childhood trauma would morelikely lead her to kill the man who
was sexually assaulting a child, notthe child. He said that Rapert he
visited McClintic when she was in juveniledetention because he wanted to maintain control over
(33:29):
her and make sure she didn't tellthe police the truth. The following day,
Justice Thomas Heeney gave the jury instructionsbefore they were due to deliberate.
He told them that for the murdercharge, they could return a verdict of
guilty of manslaughter if they believe mclinticwas the one to kill Tori, guilty
of second or first degree murder ornot guilty. They also had to return
(33:51):
a verdict of guilty or not guiltyof abduction and sexual assault. He instructed
the jury to rise above emotional considerationand told them dispassionately decide the case based
solely on the evidence and the law. They were then sent to deliberate.
The eight week trial had seen sixtyone witnesses take the stand and almost two
(34:12):
hundred pieces of evidence exhibited. Thefollowing day, May eleven, twenty eleven,
the jury reached a verdict in thecourtroom. They returned a verdict of
guilty of first degree murder, sexualassault causing bodily harm, and kidnapping.
Michael Rafferty was remanded into custody untilthe sentencing hearing on May fifteenth. On
(34:34):
May fifteenth, Victoria's older brother,Darren, delivered a heartbreaking statement at Rafferty
sentencing hearing. He spoke how hislife had changed, how he had been
impacted. He said his mother wasan addict to deal with the loss,
and his father always had what happenedon his mind. He felt like he
was known as Victoria Stafford's brother.Michael Rafferty then delivered his own statement.
(34:57):
In it, he said that hewould give Victoria's mothers the missing pieces of
the puzzle if she wanted them.He also maintained that he was innocent.
Georgini said that the verdict was justlyand amply supported by evidence, and sentenced
Raperty to the mandatory sentence for murderof life in prison, no possibility of
parole for twenty five years, withten years to be served concurrently for both
(35:19):
the kidnapping and sexual assault charges,just as hen, he said, your
crimes have destroyed the lives of VictoriaStafford's parents, her brother, her extended
family and loved ones. They haveterrorized an entire community who had thought its
children could safely walk its streets,little knowing that people such as you lurked
among them. That you were broughtto justice as due entirely to the most
(35:40):
massive and extraordinary mobilization of police resourcesthat this province and probably this country has
ever seen. You've snuffed out thelife of a beautiful, talented, vivacious
little girl, and for what sothat you could gratify your twisted and deviant
desire to have sex with a child. Only a monster could commit an act
(36:00):
of such pure evil. You,sir, are a monster. Statements by
Tori's family were read in court.Tara, her mother, said that she
still had to deal with people thinkingshe was involved in her daughter's murder,
and that every milestone she was lookingforward to, like graduation or her wedding,
had been replaced by anniversaries of herabduction and the day she was found
(36:22):
dead. Darren, Tori's brother,wrote a statement that was read by a
member of the prosecution, attorney StephanieVenn. In it, he said how
close he had been to tor andnow how he felt alone and as if
there was an empty spot in hisheart. He spoke about how he had
to go to counseling and suffered fromlow self esteem and anxiety. He said
(36:45):
that he was lost without his baby, sister and best friend. It had
been publicized after the jury began,deliberating that some evidence had not been admitted
into the trial. Information uncovered onRafferty's BlackBerry and computer showed that he had
child sex abuse images and had searchedon the internet for a violent child abuse
imagery. Victoria Stafford's family had towait one hundred and three days for her
(37:07):
body to be found and three yearsfor justice. Michael Rafferty attempted to appeal
his conviction and was denied le galade. The taxpayer had to fund his appeal.
The appeal stated that the trial judgemade a number of errors when instructing
the jury and in admitting certain evidenceinto court. Attorney Paul Clarko represented Rafferty
(37:31):
in the Pellet hearing and said thatRafferty's actions after Torrey's murder were consistent with
being in accessory after the fact,like when he disposed of his clothes backseat
at the car, gave a falsealibi, and light the police Consistently.
The Court of Appeal said there wassimply no evidence upon which a properly instructed
(37:52):
jury acting reasonably could have found theappellent guilty solely of being in accessory.
It was by evidential found or airof reality for the appellents submission that he
was simply helping mclintic after she committedthe offenses. On the contrary, a
large body of evidence contradicted this theory. Appeal Court Justice John Laskian rebuted Clarko
(38:16):
when the attorney said the trial judgeaired when he did not issue a Retrovec
warning to the jury. A Vetrovichwarning is when the trial judge advises a
jury to consider the reliability of thetestimony when it's coming from a witness with
poor credibility. The content of thiswarning is discretionary, and the judge can
decide what to say or if tosay anything. The defense attorney at Rafferty's
(38:42):
trial had not asked the judge togive the jury a Vetrovec warning, likely
to allow the defense to discredit mclinticas a witnessed themselves and strengthen any future
appeals, just as Heeney did advisethe jury that McClintic had changed her statement
in her sworn testimony and to considerthat when they were assessing her credibility.
(39:04):
The appeal court found no errors madeand told Clarco that he had argued an
extremely difficult appeal very well, butthe appellate judge simply did not agree with
him and dismissed the case before theCrown even had to make their submissions to
contest it. Following the high levelof publicity the case received and the prominence
of drug abuse within those surrounding ToryStafford Woodstock was labeled as somewhere with severe
(39:29):
OxyContin problem. Approved in the midnineties, OxyContin became the most prescribed branded
narcotic medication for people with moderate tosevere pain. It was marked as being
non addictive and safe. Less thana decade later, more and more reports
came in about the misuse of theprescription medication, which contains the opioid oxycodone.
(39:52):
The drug was marketed fiercely as atreatment for pain in counter patients and
patients without cancer who suffered from mildto severe PA. General practitioners and primary
care specialists are encouraged to prescribe thedrug, which is twice as potent as
morphine. According to the National Instituteon Drug Abuse, almost fifty thousand people
in the United States died from opioidrelated overdoses in twenty nineteen. One in
(40:16):
five people prescribed opioids will misuse themfour to six percent of those will transition
to heroin. While over prescribing ofopioids is one of the main causes of
this crisis, another is that thedrug offers an escape to people in disadvantage
socioeconomic circumstances. Although suffering from abuseor trauma, there is no easy fix.
(40:40):
New formulas of analgesic opioids, whichare supposed to be harder to interfere
with and misuse can lead to desperationand demand in those addicted. Fence Nil,
a synthetic opioid that is fifty toone hundred times more potent than morphine,
is produced and distributed illegally. Thisis the most common drug involved in
dose deaths in the US. Thereneeds to be a safer environment for addicts
(41:05):
and more accessible services for them toget help through medication like methadone and psychological
therapy. Terry Lin McClintic, who'snot eligible for parole for another decade,
was transferred to an Indigenous Healing Lodgeok More, ok. It's a healing
lodge for Aboriginal women or Nacinete FirstNation in Saskatchewan, from the Grand Valley
(41:29):
Institution for Women, where she'd beenserving her sentence. The healing Lodge works
in a similar way to prison,but it's focuses on healing. It's not
as restrictive as a medium security prisonand works with offenders and Indigenous elders to
rehabilitate them. McClintic's family denies shehas indigenous ancestry, so moving the convicted
(41:51):
child killer to a minimum security facilitythat teaches a residents the practices of cultures
and values of the Nacinete seemed likeMcClintic was receiving vileges, and although she
seems remorseful in her statement at herplea hearing and during Raffty's trial, she's
not changed her out violent ways.In twenty and twelve, she was convicted
(42:12):
for kicking and beating another inmate asthey lay on the floor, and said
that her only regret was not causingthe women more severe injuries than she had.
New policy changes meant that McClintic wastransferred back to prison from the Healing
Lodge. Victoria Stafford would be twentyone years old today if she'd not been
abducted by Terry Lyn mclintic and MichaelRafferty. Rodney Stafford continues to campaign for
(42:37):
victims, support for those impacted byhomicide, and just recently called her a
review of the Canadian Victim Bill ofRights. He also completed a charity bike
ride to raise funds. Tara McDonaldstruggled to get past the public perception of
her as a bad mother, despiteher having nothing to do with Tory's abduction
and murder. She suffered with posttraumatic stress disorder, but has since started
(43:00):
practicing as a dula, assisting womenas they give birth. In an interview
with CTV, she said that HassanDarren was studying and has started his own
online business. He'd posted on socialmedia that's saying I'm doing this for us,
Victoria. Everything I do, Ido for the both of us.
(43:28):
Thank you for listening to this episodeof Crime Laps. Crime Laps is an
independent podcast that is funded in partby our generous Patreon supporters. If you
enjoy the show and want to helpus keep it going, you can join
us on Patreon dot com, forwardstot crime Laps and exchange. For your
pledge, you'll get access to earlyrelease add free episodes, bonus content,
and exclusive merchandise. You can alsosupport the show by subscribing and leaving us
(43:52):
a five star review. You cankeep up to date with us on social
media at Crime Laps on Instagram andFacebook. I'm not cry, Let's put
it on Twitter. Stacey
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