Closing arguments have started in the trial of a Collingwood man charged with first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend.
Outside of the Barrie court house on Wednesday, Sandy Vautour spoke of her late friend Victoria Doyle, calling her “a good person with a good heart”.
Doyle, 54, was found dead in her Collingwood house on New Year's Day back in 2013. On trial is her boyfriend, Paul Faria, who has been charged with first-degree murder.
“She loved her children, and she now has a granddaughter she will never see and that breaks my heart,” Vautour says.
Lawyers started making their closing submissions to the jury on Wednesday. For the defence, the argument is simple.
“The basic position of the defence is that the Crown's case is weak. There is no forensics at all tying Paul to this crime and it could have been anybody. It could have been a random intruder, it could have been a crack head, we just don't know and if maybe it's Paul and maybe it's not Paul. Then they have to acquit him,” says defence lawyer Chris Hanson.
Even when Faria was questioned by police, he says he was not involved.
"You want me to lie to you, but I'm telling you I love my girl. I would never do anything to hurt her," Faria can be heard saying during in an interrogation video.
However, the Crown attorney paints a different story. They say Faria was becoming jealous and possessive towards the end of their relationship.
Police also found Doyle's blood on one of Faria's jackets when they searched his home, but the defence says that blood could have easily been from another point in time
The jury only heard from the defence. On Thursday, it will be the Crown Attorney's chance to make their closing submissions.
