The girl from Granby could move her head from left to right even if it was rolled up with duct tape, concluded Professor Charles Dubois on Wednesday morning in the trial of the child’s mother-in-law.
The accused’s lawyers asked this polymer expert to analyze the exhibits seized from the homes of the accused and the victim. The professor at the Polytechnique de Montréal therefore studied a few strips and a pile of adhesive tape.
Mr. Dubois determined that the girl was wrapped in at least five layers of duct tape and “probably more in places”. Two more coats were applied in the “head-toe” angle.
The professor also studied the adhesion of the glue and the force required to peel or deform the adhesive tape.
“You would think that the strength of a child in the age group 5 to 11 is able to partially peel off strips of duct tape that might have been placed near his neck,” he told the jury. .
The accused recounted earlier this week that the child was wrapped in duct tape during the night of April 28 to 29, 2019. The mother-in-law did not initiate the restraint, but held her legs. the girl at some point, she explained. On the morning of the 29th, she added “maybe ten turns” around the body of the child, then she made two more turns from the feet to the head of the girl.
For more than four weeks, crown prosecutors have been trying to prove that the duct tape wrapped around the girl caused her death. The 38-year-old is charged with second degree murder and forcible confinement.