Prince George, B.C. – Crown Counsel, Joseph Temple , will resume his  closing arguments to the  jury  today in the trial of  Cody Alan Legebokoff.

The 24 year old  is on trial for four counts of first degree murder in the deaths of Jill Stuchenko, Cynthia Maas, Natasha Montgomery and Loren Donn Leslie.

Legebokoff had testified that  while he did  strike Loren Leslie on the head with a wrench,  there were  three other people involved in the three other deaths.  He  had named them  as X Y and Z,  and refused to  divulge their true  identities,  causing Justice Glen Parrett to cite Legebokoff for Criminal Contempt of Court.

There is no disagreement between Crown and Defense that Legebokoff should be found guilty of murder, but  should it be first  or second degree?

Defence argued that  Legebokoff had nothing to gain by making up the story about the  trio, saying he  admitted to being there, to providing the murder weapon  and as such, should be found guilty of second degree murder. “It’s got to mean something that he’s admitted to more than  he would have to” said Defence Lawyer James Heller “If he was just making this up, we weren’t there, I wasn’t there, you weren’t there, he could have so easily exonerated himself.”

Crown opened its closing argument telling the jury the tale of the three mystery men  was  complete fabrication that doesn’t match up with the evidence.  Crown Counsel’s Joseph Temple pointed out that Legebokoff had no answer as to how it came to be that Jill Stuchenko’s blood “literally poured out of her” at Legebokoff’s Carney Street residence creating an icicle like form within the cushion on the couch.

He chipped away at Legebokoff’s credibility saying the accused’s version of how Natasha Montgomery died did not match up with the blood spatter evidence in his apartment. Temple said Legebokoff’s explanation  for how 27 samples of Cynthia Maas’ blood got on his shoes didn’t add up because there was not one blood sample of hers in the apartment where Legebokoff said she was  first attacked.  Legebokoff  testified the blood likely dripped from  Maas when he and “Y” carried her out to his truck.

Temple is calling for the jury to find  Legebokoff guilty of first degree murder  saying the accused either planned the killings,   was a willing participant when he learned of the plan,  or  that  Legebokoff murdered the women  while sexually assaulting the women, or attempting to sexually assault them.