Jury deliberations about to begin for La Ronge area murder case

As per testimony hear during the trial, Bird, Ballantyne and Walter Charles were at the home where Bird lived at Morin’s Hill on the Lac La Ronge Indian Band and they were drinking and smoking meth.

Bird allegedly became angry with Ballantyne after he allegedly tried to rape her and according to her testimony she blacked out.

Ballantyne was later found lying face down in the bath tub and he was naked. There was blood coming from his head and cold water running from the faucet.

According to Wilfred Ballantyne’s obituary, he had three daughters and multiple siblings. (Image Credit: Arbor Memorial.)

When RCMP officers arrived, in an effort to create more space for life resuscitation, they moved the body to the living room. Ballantyne was pronounced deceased by EMS.

The autopsy revealed he died from a stab wound to the chest that penetrated his heart. There were also multiple other stab wounds to his neck, back and legs.

He also had a number of cuts on his hands and a large wound on his right elbow that was attributed to a machete strike.

Bird and Charles were found by police lying together on a bed that had no sheets and they were both arrested.

Bed sheets were later found in the dryer, and some of Bird’s clothes were found in the bathroom. They all contained blood stains.

A number of knives were also recovered by police, as well as a hammer and a broken frying pan. They also contained blood stains and the DNA was matched to both Bird and Ballantyne.

While in the holding cell at the RCMP detachment, Bird was overheard by officers saying “I killed that [expletive].”

Over the course of five hours, she was questioned by police and said the devil had possessed her and she sent [Ballantyne] to hell. And while reiterating Ballantyne had tried to rape her, she could not provide specific details of the assault.

While a rape kit was performed at a local hospital, the results were inconclusive.

Defence lawyer Patrick McDougall stated Bird was sexually assaulted when she was younger and never received any help for it.

He said when she believed he was attacked, she was simply acting in self-defense and being highly intoxicated, lost control over her unresolved issues.

“Arguably that’s self-defence,” he said. “It’s self-preservation.”

McDougall also stated while Bird admitted to hitting Ballantyne in the arm with a machete, there was no hard evidence to prove who stabbed him.

“None of us will know exactly what happened,” he said.

With respect to the DNA, McDougall stated Bird had lived in the house so of course her DNA would be on everything.

He also raised the point Bird was cooperative with police and asked to testify in her own defence.

In turn, Crown Prosecutor Daniel Arnot, after reviewing almost two weeks of testimonyt, encouraged the jury to look at the whole picture.

“Each of these threads together can support the inference she killed Wilfred Ballantyne,” he said.

Arnot, who also noted Bird’s story had changed since her initial arrest, described her lapses in memory as suspiciously convenient.

He also advised the jury should they have reasonable doubt about convicting Bird of second degree murder, they stilll have the option of manslaughter.

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell

by Nigel Maxwell

Jury deliberations about to begin for La Ronge area murder case

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