Jury shown ‘disturbing’ images of Holly Hamilton’s 17 knife wounds

Before forensic pathologist Dr. Kristopher Cunningham began his testimony about the murder of Holly Hamilton, Justice Paul Sweeny warned the jury they were about to see a series of photographs that are quite disturbing."

Most of Holly's friends and family chose to leave the courtroom.

Seventeen sharp force wounds covered Holly's neck and stomach, one small wound was next to her mouth and another over her right breast. Nine were considered incised wounds, meaning they were longer than they were deep - including a 13.5-centimetre wound across the front of her neck, cutting as deep as her muscle, Cunningham told court Tuesday.

Six were stab wounds, including the fatal wound, on the right side of Holly's neck. It went through skin, tissue and muscle, perforating her common carotid artery. This is a major, high-pressure artery that bleeds vigorously when cut, he said.

This is the most lethal wound of all the wounds she has," said Cunningham, the deputy chief forensic pathologist for the province. All of the wounds would have contributed to blood loss, but a cut to that artery can cause death within seconds to minutes.

Justin Dumpfrey, Holly's on-again-off-again boyfriend, is charged with second-degree murder. He's accused of killing Holly sometime between Jan. 14 and 15, 2018.

Court has already heard during the trial that they had a volatile relationship, including Dumpfrey being twice convicted of assaulting her. Holly's family and friends have testified that she was afraid of Dumpfrey, but kept the peace for the sake of their daughter.

Days after being reported missing, Holly's frozen and stabbed body was found in the trunk of her car, abandoned in an east Hamilton parking garage.

In court Tuesday, Cunningham showed the jury multiple scrapes and bruises all over Holly's body. These bruises were fresh - still purple and red - and likely occurred in the 18 hours leading up to her death, although Cunningham said it was impossible to say exactly when.

Cunningham did not perform the autopsy - that doctor was not available and no longer works in forensic pathology.

Cunningham said there were no defensive wounds from a sharp-edged weapon (such as a knife). However, he questioned whether the bruises on Holly's arms and wrists were from trying to stop blows.

It's also impossible to say what weapon caused the injuries, and whether more than one weapon was used. The stab wounds are consistent with a knife, but Cunningham said he could only say the incised ones were caused by a sharp edge.

Robert May had only known Dumpfrey for a few weeks and knew him only as Black Jay." He testified Tuesday that he delivered weed to Dumpfrey on the afternoon of Jan. 15, 2018 and then got a few calls from him later asking for a ride to drive his daughter home, agreeing around 7 p.m.

On the car ride, May said Jay" said: My baby mama is a bitch." May said he told Jay" not to say that in front of his daughter. He also recalled that Jay" wanted to drop his daughter off on the curb, but May said he insisted he walk her to the door.

Court has already heard that Holly's then four-year-old daughter was abruptly dropped off on her grandparent's doorstep on the night of Jan. 15.

On cross-examination, defence attorney John Erickson questioned May about his memory, including because of frequent marijuana use that May said was for pain, and the fact that he didn't meet with police until March 2018. May became very angry at Erickson, saying he was wasting everyone's time and at one point walked out of the courtroom, saying he was done. May eventually returned and continued his testimony, explaining that he was upset about being dragged into a murder case he had nothing to do with.

The trial also heard from Barb Bozikis, who runs Barb's Cleaning and Restoration Services where Holly worked as a cleaner for about two years. It was Bozikis who gave Holly the white 1996 Ford Escape - in which her body was later found - to use for work.

She was awesome, she was good at her job, reliable and my clients loved her," Bozikis said.

She last saw Holly the Friday before her murder when the 29-year-old came by the office to pick up her cheque and top up on cleaning supplies. Holly was supposed to clean a house the morning of Jan. 15, but Bozikis got a call from her client that no one showed. Soon after, Holly's mom Angela Hamilton called to ask about Holly. Bozikis said they were both in a panic."

Assistant Crown attorney Amber Lepchuk showed Bozikis a series of photographs of items found dumped in the garbage at the apartment building next door to where Dumpfrey lived on Barton Street East. Bozikis identified a number of cleaning products that came from her business. The bottle of cleaning chemicals had just been topped up on Friday and should have been full, but all were more than half empty.

The trial continues Wednesday.

Nicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com