Testimony at the Michael Ball murder trial Monday afternoon focused on a duffel bag purchased by a Waterloo Regional Police officer investigating the death of Erin Howlett.
Det. Sgt. Ken Taylor was on the stand, telling jurors about the duffel bag he purchased at a military surplus store.
The bag is similar to the one which contained Howlett’s body when it was found in the Grand River in the summer of 2013.
Under cross-examination from defence lawyer Andrew Bond, Taylor agreed that the store’s price tag system – in which stickers are placed on items – was “out of date,” and that there was no way to prove his purchase was recorded in the store’s system as a purchase of a duffel bag.
Jurors previously heard testimony from acquaintances of Ball that he had talked about going to the same store to get “the biggest duffel bag he could find,” which he wanted to purchase “for Erin’s body.”
Bond also questioned whether Taylor seized receipts and video from the store in question, as well as a similar shop in Cambridge.
Taylor responded that he received receipts from both stores, but only sought video surveillance footage from the Kitchener store.
The trial continues Tuesday.
