The jury deciding the fate of the man charged in the killing of Victoria Stafford resumes its deliberations Friday morning.
Michael Rafferty has pleaded not guilty to charges of first degree murder, sexual assault causing bodily harm and kidnapping.
After 10 weeks of at times graphic and disturbing evidence — jurors began their deliberations late Thursday afternoon following a full day of detailed instructions from Superior Court Judge Thomas Heeney.
He reminded the nine men and three women to disregard any arguments by the lawyers that aren’t backed up by the evidence.
Jurors have a pile of evidence to examine as dozens of experts, police officers and other witnesses testified and 190 exhibits were introduced as evidence.
But the didn’t get to see the nearly four hour police interrogation of Rafferty — which has now been released to the public.
At one point — a trembling, sniffling Rafferty starts hyperventilating and gagging when a police officer likens him to convicted sex killer Paul Bernardo.
But his attitude changes when he is questioned by OPP Detective Staff Sergeant Jim Smyth — and Rafferty offers sneering, dismissive answers when questioned.
Throughout the interview, Rafferty denies any involvement with Tori’s abduction and murder — insisting his only mistake was getting involved with “bad people.”
Other court documents the jury did not see include information from Rafferty’s laptop — which was used to search online for “real underage rape” and “nude pre-teens.”
The Crown contends Rafferty also downloaded “substantial” amounts of child pornography, and there was evidence of snuff films on his laptop.
A woman he met online alleged that he drugged, choked and raped her.
The jury knows none of that — partly because the warrant police used to search Rafferty’s computer was declared unconstitutional.
The Crown alleges that Rafferty and girlfriend Terri-Lynne McClintic kidnapped Tori Stafford outside her Woodstock school, then drove to an area south of Mount Forest where the girl was raped and killed.
McClintic has already pleaded guilty to first degree murder.
