Prince George, B.C.- The trial of Cody Legebokoff  heard  testimony about the events which led to the arrest of the young man  and  his being charged with the murder of  15 year old Loren Donn Leslie.

Constable Aaron Kehler  was on the stand,  saying he was  driving southbound on highway 27 on the night of November 27, 2010  expecting to  meet up with  Constable  Sidhu from Vanderhoof,  to pick up  an item.

That’s when he noticed “Headlights bobbing  through the forested area, heading toward highway 27”. He says  he wasn’t even aware of there being a road  through that area,  and at first thought it was a snowmobile as  he thought it was travelling too  fast to be a vehicle  moving through the snow.

He told the court the vehicle came on to the highway without braking  or stopping,  “I put it in the back of my head,  something was odd”.

He followed the  vehicle,  hoping to pull it over when  Constable Sidhu  would cross his path, then he would have back up,   just in case.

He  says he pulled the vehicle over,  and  it was very “weird”  that  the driver  was holding his license and registration out the window.

That isn’t all  that he thought was odd.

He observed the driver was  wearing shorts and a sweater “I was  wearing long johns and full uniform and I was still cold”.  The temperature was  between -5 and -15.

He says he spotted “a smear on his left cheek, looked like dried blood.”  He  testified he also spotted  what appeared to be blood droplets on the  driver’s  legs and  thighs.

That’s when Constable  Kehler spotted a beer can, and advised the driver  he would be conducting a search under the  Liquor Control and Licensing Act.  When the driver exited the truck,  Constable Kehler  noticed a “red watery liquid” on the driver’s side floor mat.

He  said he did a quick pat down  of the driver, who he identified as Cody Legebokoff,  and located a cell phone,   and discovered a  leatherman like tool in  the left cargo pocket of the shorts.  “The multi-tool was covered in gelled blood, I have never seen blood like that.”

The search of the truck  turned up  the monkey back pack that belonged to Loren Leslie. The search also turned up a pipe wrench that had snow and blood  on it.  At this  point,  Constable Kehler  said  he began to think this scenario  was more than likely  a violation of the wildlife act, so he  gave Legebokoff a Charter and warning   and advised that he was under arrest for poaching.   Constable Kehler   told the court Legebokoff said he  and a friend  had  been poaching, that his friend shot a mule deer from his truck.  The deer ran off,  they tracked it,  and “took turns  clubbing it to death.”

Kehler testified he told  Legebokoff that  “taking turns clubbing a deer, sometimes turns people into serial killers.”  He told the court Legebokoff   then said he was trying to change his friends.

A Conservation Officer was called to the scene,  and  was sent to  investigate the  road where Legebokoff’s truck  had been.  CO Hill was  advised that given the discovery of a young girl’s backpack in Legebokoff’s truck,  it was possible he could find a person at the end of that logging road, or, he may find a  mule deer.

About 20 minutes later,  Constable  Kehler says he called  the Conservation Officer on the radio,  asking “Is it what we expected or is everything O.K?”

Hill replied “It is worst case scenario.”

Hill then advised he had found a person,  and that an ambulance would not be needed.

Legebokoff was now read the Charter and  warning again, and advised he was being  arrested for murder. Constable Kehler says  Legebokoff was placed in handcuffs  “I remember I had knots in my stomach, it really hit me, and I was trying to  come to grips with what had happened here.”  He testified that was when Legebokoff turned to him and  said "I found her like that."

Constable Kehler returns to the stand tomorrow morning  for  cross examination.