A 25-year-old murder victim likely died within minutes from blood loss after being shot eight times, says a forensic pathologist.
Dr. Elizabeth Brooks-Lim, who is acting chief medical examiner for Alberta, oversaw the autopsy of Lloyd Robert Sarson, after his body was found on New Year’s Day 2013 in the driver’s seat of a car in a back lane, south of Ross Street near 37th Avenue.
A 21-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting. He can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act because he was 17 at the time of Sarson’s death.
Seven .22-calibre bullets were removed from Sarson’s body during the autopsy. An eighth bullet passed through his neck and came to rest somewhere else, a jury heard in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench on Friday.
The jury was shown autopsy pictures of the victim and diagrams from the medical examiner that showed all the shots came from the right side through to the left side of the body, mostly on a downward trajectory.
Crown prosecutor Rajbir Dhillon asked if the injuries were consistent with a victim being shot through an open door from the passenger side by a shooter standing outside the vehicle. Brooks-Lim said they were.
Another witness testified that the accused and the victim had argued and tussled briefly at a get-together at the witness’s home on Dec. 22.
The 22-year-old said on the morning of Sarson’s death, another friend had come to his home shortly after 5 a.m. shocked, confused and upset by what he witnessed.
The witness said he told his shaken friend to call police and tell them what he knew or he would be considered a suspect.
Defence lawyer Karen Molle, of Calgary questioned the witness about whether the friend, who said he had been crouched in the back seat when Sarson was shot, had any blood on him.
The witness said he didn’t see any blood on the other man’s hands or clothing.
The trial continues on Monday.
pcowley@reddeeradvocte.com