A Prince George man stumbled across the body of a woman while out collecting "cans for cash," the trial for accused serial killer Cody Alan Legebokoff heard Tuesday.
Johnny Pius testified he had gone to a gravel pit near Otway Road on the morning of Oct. 26, 2009 because the "lower end" was a popular party spot and predicted he would find discarded cans and bottles he could refund at a recycling depot.
Checking out a spot where bonfires are often made by burning wood pallets, Pius said he was successful in his search. He then decided to venture into another area he usually does not bother with because of the steep path to get there but Pius wanted to see if there was another path leading out to an adjacent road.
As he reached the top of the hill, Pius said he came across an ice pail and collapsible blue bag and next to it the partially buried body of what turned out to be Jill Stacey Stuchenko. His next move was to back away from the scene, go back down the hill and ride his bike out to the North District RCMP detachment on Fifth Avenue at Ospika Boulevard.
"I told the man at the desk, 'I think I found a body,'" Pius said.
He went back out to the scene with two RCMP, showed them the body and waited for some detectives to arrive.
Previous to that day, Pius said the last time he was there was a week before and it was a month since he had been in the area where Stuchenko's body was found.
"I don't go to the parties but the aftermath of the party, there are usually empties," Pius said.
In later testimony Tuesday, the court heard Dr. Richard Lazenby, a forensic anthropologist based out of UNBC, who was called to the scene.
Lazenby said there was evidence of "animal activity," likely from a bear or coyote, on upper parts of Stuchenko's body that was "fairly recent, within days." He also said police collected soil from around the body and took it away for analysis.
In a statement given to the jury when the trial began June 2, Crown prosecutor Joseph Temple described Stuchenko as a 35-year-old mother of six, who was also a frequent cocaine user and earned money as a sex-trade worker.
She was last seen by police and a friend on Oct. 9, 2009 and her cellphone records ended the same day, the court also heard, while a caregiver to one of her children reported her missing on Oct. 21, 2009.
Her body was found in an "advanced state of decomposition," and an autopsy showed she suffered "severe traumatic injuries and multiple blows to the back and right side of the head and to the face."
At the time of her death, her home was in the 1000 block of Carney Street while Legebokoff had been living less than three blocks away in a basement suite in the 1500 block of Carney Street.
DNA from Legebokoff was found on Stuchenko's body, Temple also said.
As well as Stuchenko, Legebokoff is accused of first-degree murder in the deaths of Loren Donn Leslie, 15, Cynthia Frances Maas, 35, and Natasha Lynn Montgomery, 24.
The trial continues today at the Prince George courthouse, 9:30 a.m. start.
