 Christopher Little is on trial in the murders of Paula Menendez (right) and Julie Crocker (left). (SUN MEDIA)
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NEWMARKET - Twelve jurors now deciding whether Christopher Little murdered both his ex-wife Julie Crocker and her lover’s estranged wife never heard that York Regional Police discovered a chilling sex tape in which Little apparently sexually assaulted the unconscious Crocker.
Little has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the Feb. 12, 2007 deaths of Crocker, 33, and Paula Menendez, 34, in a strong prosecution case based on circumstantial evidence.
Jurors heard that Little took extraordinary measures, including a “Check Mate” kit that tested for the presence of semen, to prove his wife’s infidelities.
But the jury never heard that police — executing a search warrant inside a suspended basement ceiling — at Little’s Larkin Ave. home on Feb. 20, 2007, found a digital video that apparently showed Little sexually assaulting his unconscious spouse. A wireless pinhole camera was also found.
Justice Michelle Fuerst ruled that the search wasn’t “carried out in accordance” with the search warrant and Little’s Charter rights were violated.
The sex video wasn’t dated and no sexual aspect to these murders was alleged. Neither victim was sexually assaulted.
Crown attorneys Douglas Kasko and Robert Scott said they had hoped to use the sex tape video if Little relied on a “good character” defence, meaning he testified he didn’t do the crimes because he is not that sort of person.
The Crown could try to bring this evidence to rebut a claim that Little had never previously abused his wife. But the opportunity never arose at this trial because Little didn’t rely on a good character defence, so there was no way to introduce the “bad character” evidence. This type of evidence is normally excluded because it’s “prejudicial” and can be wrongly misused by the jurors to believe Little has a propensity for violence and is therefore more likely to have committed the offence.
Fuerst ruled out the evidence at a pre-trial motion.
"Their conduct in carrying out the search after the warrant had expired was careless,” she wrote in a judgment. "In examining the contents of the computer and seizing anything of relevance (despite admonitions by one officer to not do so), they acted recklessly.”
The day after the homicides, police also searched Little’s desk at his workplace Fibrelink and found a Black’s Photography envelope with photos of Crocker and Ralph from a December 2006 southern vacation, along with Ralph’s business card.
Those items were also excluded, although Little testified he had kept Ralph’s card.
Despite the missing evidence, the jury heard ample evidence of Little’s efforts to keep track of his wife, including installing a GPS device on her vehicle. He used it to locate her and Ralph alone at a downtown hotel room in October 2006.
They separated shortly thereafter, but it wasn’t until a few months later that Little realized his efforts to salvage his marriage were failing.
The Crown argued that Little slashed the throat of his estranged wife, Crocker at their matrimonial home and strangled Menendez before staging the scene as a murder-suicide executed at the hands of Menendez.
Crocker was romantically involved with Menendez’s estranged husband, radio sportscaster Rick Ralph. There was no dispute that Crocker cheated on Little and no dispute that Menendez had an abortion when her marriage to Ralph began to crumble, leaving Fuerst to instruct the jurors to put their opinions about extramarital affairs and abortion aside in their deliberations.
In her final instructions to the jury members, Fuerst told them their decision is an all-or-nothing proposition: Little either killed them both or he didn’t kill either of them.
“As a matter of common sense,” the same verdict would be expected for both counts as the deaths “are linked in time” and the evidence overlaps, she said.
The Crown argued that Little murdered the women after his dream of saving his marriage collapsed as Crocker bluntly told Little their relationship was over a few days earlier.
The split between Menendez and Ralph was an amicable one and though Menendez was sad in the week before she died, she was excited about dating and opening a physiotherapy clinic outside their home, Fuerst said in reviewing the Crown’s evidence.
Little’s defence portrayed Menendez as a woman in turmoil who killed Crocker out of jealousy before taking her own life.
Click here to read more of Scenes from a failed marriage
