Caissie won’t testify in own defence at his murder trial

David Caissie will not testify at his first-degree murder trial in connection with the death of his former girlfriend, Carol King.

The decision came after the morning-long testimony Tuesday of the only defence witness in the case, a front-desk clerk at a motel in Olds, Alberta who told court she saw Caissie on the evening of the day King disappeared, Aug. 6, 2011.

King’s vehicle was found in a slough near Herschel four days later. Her body was found three weeks later by a volunteer searcher in an abandoned farmyard six kilometres east of her car.

Caissie, now 55, was charged in July 2016 after telling undercover RCMP officers he killed her.

According to earlier trial testimony, Carol’s sister Brenda King spoke to Carol by phone on the afternoon of Aug. 6, but when Brenda called back later that day, her call went straight to Carol’s voice mail.

Carol was scheduled to meet with RCMP in Rosetown at 5 p.m. that day regarding her harassment complaint against Caissie, but did not show up.

On Tuesday, Anja Kuster testified Caissie was staying at the Siesta Motel in Olds where she worked, and that she was “100 per cent certain” she saw him twice that evening. The first time was between 5 and 7 p.m., the second at 9:45 p.m., she said.

However, her testimony quickly came apart during cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga.

Under detailed questioning, Kuster became flustered and confused about dates and other details, at times contradicting her earlier testimony.

Miazga asked Kuster to review a written transcript of her recorded statement to police on Aug. 12, six days after King ’s disappearance. In it, she said she saw Caissie on the previous evening, Aug. 11, at 9:45 when he paid for his room. She said she was unsure what time she saw him on Aug. 6.

Midway through the cross-examination, Kuster’s chest began to visibly heave, and she told court she was having a panic attack. Court took a 20-minute recess while she composed herself.

After the trial resumed, Miazga asked Kuster why she found it so difficult to accept that she did not tell police the details she testified to earlier.

Kuster said there was “a lot going on at the hotel” around that time, such as fights and stolen vehicles.

“When you have to deal with this you forget a lot,” she said.

Miazga pointed to other inconsistencies between her court testimony and her statements to police. Initially in her testimony, she said Caissie came into the motel on Aug. 6 with a few other people. In her statement to police, she said he had come in alone.

When Miazga asked her if she would agree her memory is not the best, she replied “yes” and went on to say that she is under a lot of stress because her husband is dying.

Final arguments in the trial are set for Thursday.