Can't recall grim crime: accused

Sidney Teerhuis doesn't deny killing, decapitating and defiling the body of an innocent stranger he met inside a Winnipeg bar.

But Teerhuis is asking a jury to find him not guilty of second-degree murder, claiming he has no memory of the July 2003 slaying that made headlines around the world because of the details of the slaying and a strange link to a Hollywood movie that was shooting in the city at the time.

His long-awaited trial began Monday, with defence lawyer Greg Brodsky telling jurors the sole issue is whether his client had the "state of mind" needed to prove there was intent to kill. Teerhuis is not claiming mental illness or seeking a designation that would see him go to a hospital instead of a prison.

"This is a tragic story of the brutal killing of a 38-year-old man," Crown attorney Sheila Leinburd said in her opening statement to jurors, which included a strong warning about the graphic evidence they were going to hear during the next three weeks.

The facts of the case are not in dispute.

Robin Green, a Shoal Lake resident visiting Winnipeg over the Canada Day holiday, met Teerhuis in the lounge of the Woodbine Hotel on Main Street. The men shared drinks and conversation, then agreed to go back to Teerhuis' suite at the Royal Albert Arms Hotel.

Green would be found hours later inside a bathtub. He had been stabbed 68 times in the upper body, causing massive blood loss. He had been cut into eight separate pieces, which were piled on top of each other. He had been beheaded and castrated. One eye was removed. All of his organs were missing from his chest cavity. His organs were never found, despite an intensive police search of the hotel and surrounding area. What happened to them remains a mystery.

"His entire torso had been emptied out," Const. Chris McLean told jurors as he described pictures taken at the scene.

"The body parts had been stacked neatly."

McwLean said police thought the organs may have been flushed down the toilet but found no evidence during their examination. They also searched dozens of garbage Dumpsters on streets near the hotel without success.

"It's physically impossible to check every Dumpster and sewer in the city of Winnipeg," said McLean.

Members of Green's family broke down and left the courtroom in tears as McLean gave his evidence.

Police found three disposable cameras inside the suite with pictures that show Green posing for pictures just before he was killed. He is nude in one photo, wearing underwear in others. Teerhuis had also taken pictures of several pairs of underwear hanging in the room, including on doorknobs and dressers.

Police also recovered a necklace that had been stolen days earlier from the set of Shall We Dance, the movie starring Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon. The jewelry, which belonged to Sarandon, was found on a desk, jurors were told. Teerhuis is not accused of stealing it, and details of how or why it came to be in his suite have not been provided.

Teerhuis had led police to the killing by walking into the Winnipeg Remand Centre and announcing "I chopped up a body in my bathtub." Teerhuis apparently thought the downtown jail was a police station.

"I came to turn myself in because I killed someone," he said.

Police arrived in Room 309 of the Royal Albert and immediately realized this was no hoax.

Brodsky suggested Monday his client may have "awoke to a horrendous scene" and then tried to cover it up. McLean said it appears much of the blood had been mopped up but little else was done to conceal what had happened.

"I would say, at the very least, it was a poor job of hiding the crime scene," he said.

The jury heard how Teerhuis spoke of performing sex acts on the victim -- both before and after he was dead -- and discussed his affection for serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer.

www.mikeoncrime.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 2, 2008 B1