Week 1 of Whitehawk murder trial wraps with testimony on forensic DNA samples
CBC
Keesha Bitternose's father isn't certain he'll ever find justice in the court proceedings around his daughter's death — but he's hoping for closure.
The 29-year-old Regina mother's body was found at a home on Cameron Street in January 2020.
Two people have already been convicted of manslaughter in her death.
Dillon Whitehawk, the third and final person to be tried in court in connection with her death, is charged with first-degree murder and is halfway through his judge-only trial at Court of King's Bench in Regina. He's pleaded not guilty.
Arlen Bitternose, the woman's father, says it's been a difficult nearly three years in and out of courtrooms.
"We've always kept a close-knit family, but it has even brought us closer," he told CBC News outside of court on Friday.
"Maybe someday — maybe — I'll forgive them. But right now? I just can't. I feel that with what they have done and what they put my daughter through, any justice will never be good enough."
Earlier this week, the forensic pathologist who performed Bitternose's autopsy said she had too many injuries from being beaten, stabbed and possibly shot to determine her exact cause of death. She ultimately died of a collapsed lung and severe blood loss, the doctor said.
Bitternose's mother believes she was tortured.
Her family says they knew she was involved in gangs, but she was preparing to leave that lifestyle and return to university to finish her social work degree.
On Friday, the court heard from two Crown expert witnesses who took DNA samples from items collected by Regina police investigators at the crime scene.
Meagan Clarke, a reporting scientist at the RCMP forensic laboratory in Edmonton, testified about the two reports she wrote from her analysis.
The reports outlined how a handful of items — including a glove, machete, screwdriver and Bitternose's fingernail clippings — were tested for DNA.
There was no human DNA that was familiar on the screwdriver, Clarke told the court.
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WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.