Jurors in a murder-for-hire trial of two Wingham people were back in court Thursday.
Jurors heard testimony from 60-year-old Owen Curtis who said that co-accused Serena Benninger first offered him 10 thousand dollars to murder Sheila Terpstra.
Curtis said he backed out the plot when he found out who the intended victim was.
He said “everything was set up, but he knew Sheila Terpstra’s family, and couldn’t go through with it”.
Curtis said that’s when he decided to go to police in London.
Curtis also told the court that he assumed the money was coming from co-accused Anthony Terpstra, and that Terpstra was “pulling the strings.”
Curtis did however say that Benninger never once came flat out and said that to him.
Wrapping up the fourth day of trial, the crown also brought in Kelly Anderson who’s a Senior Investigator with the OPP Electronic Crimes Division.
Among the text messages he pulled from Terpstra’s and Benninger’s phones were; “wouldn’t they question a heart attack?, do you trust him? and Know I’m freaking, you okay?
The trial resumes Friday in Goderich Court.