Victim found in filled bathtub in apartment fire, but stab wounds were the cause of death

There is no question the cause of death of Marilyn Mitton was several stab wounds to the torso.

What a 14-member jury must now decide is who inflicted those wounds.

Wayne Bell is on trial for first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Mitton, 66, who was found face down in a bleach- and water-filled bathtub on July 31, 2016, after her apartment at 200 Jackson St. W. was set on fire. Bell, 69, is also charged with arson and accused of setting the apartment ablaze to cover up evidence.

Bell has pleaded not guilty to both counts.

Court heard testimony Friday from Dr. Allison Edgecombe, the forensic pathologist who conducted a post-mortem examination of Mitton on Aug. 1.

Edgecombe testified that Mitton sustained seven stab wounds to her chest and abdomen - four of which were considered potentially fatal - as well as three incised wounds on her hands and blunt force injuries to her head, torso and extremities.

The three incise wounds were all detected on Mitton's right hand - one on her index finger, one on her ring finger and one on her pinky finger. The autopsy determined they were all defensive wounds, Edgecombe testified, explaining the wounds were likely inflicted while Mitton attempted to fend off the knife of her attacker.

Under questioning from Crown attorney Nancy Flynn, Edgecombe testified the cause of death of Mitton could not have been smoke inhalation. She also testified drowning would be an unlikely cause.

The jury was presented with a series of photos of Mitton taken in the forensics lab.

Lying face up on a silver table, the five-foot-four Mitton - who weighed a meagre 110 pounds at death - appeared remarkably pale from head to toe with heavily wrinkled skin on her hands and feet. The torso area was littered with ruptured skin blisters and abrasions.

It was the first time since the trial began on Oct. 26 that Bell, now in a wheelchair, displayed some sort of physical reaction to a witness testimony.

As the Crown flipped through photos on a projector, Bell kept his head down and closed his eyes at times. On at least two occasions, he raised his right hand to his face and rubbed his eyes with his fingers.

It was also the first time defence counsel Stephen White introduced some sort of argument related to the allegation that Bell stabbed Mitton.

Most pointedly, White questioned Edgecombe about the two incised wounds located on Mitton's right ring and pinky fingers, which Edgecombe testified were classic" examples of self-defence.

White, using a vivid example where he took a marker and pretended to stab himself, posited whether it was possible for a hand to slip from the handle of a knife and onto the blade when the knife punctures skin.

As you see, after plunging that marker into my chest, it slides exactly down to where those two slices are (on Mitton's finger)," White told Edgecombe, who was present at the trial through Zoom.

Edgecombe agreed the scenario would be possible.

It's possible, but it would certainly be an uncommon type of wound to see," she testified. I have never seen this in a self-inflicted stabbing."

Unless you're seeing it right now," White replied as he closed the cross-examination.

The trial resumes Monday.

Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com