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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Accused couldn't believe DNA linked him to 1984 killing
"That's impossible. It's not mine. It can't be mine," a visibly stunned Kociuk told homicide detectives in a 2005 videotaped interview played on Thursday for a jury.
Kociuk, 68, was charged on that day with first-degree murder for the 1984 rape and killing of Beverley Ann Dyke. His Queen's Bench trial began last week.
Semen taken from the 48-year-old victim had been matched to a DNA sample from Kociuk, thanks to advancements in modern technology. But Kociuk repeatedly denied even knowing Dyke during his interview.
"I think you guys got your wires crossed here. I don't know this lady," he said. Kociuk claimed he saw a television documentary that stated the U.S. attorney general "makes mistakes over 90 per cent... 95 per cent of the time."
"Why would I have anything to worry about?" he asked.
Kociuk's lawyers are now conceding the DNA found on Dyke is a match to their client. Kociuk has changed his original story and is now admitting he had consensual sex with the woman but denies killing her. An autopsy revealed Dyke was raped and stabbed 13 times. Her partially nude body was found in a wooded area near the city's airport.
The murder case against Kociuk is complicated by the fact someone else previously admitted to the slaying. Leonard White -- who was himself killed in 1999 -- made the admission during a 1988 interview at a penitentiary in Prince Albert, Sask.
However, police discounted his claim, saying they believe he falsely confessed in an attempt to stay in prison with his gay lover. Police testified last week White had a history of making bogus confessions and only knew facts about Dyke's case that had already been revealed publicly through the media.
White claimed another man named "Ricky Morris" raped Dyke, but police said exhaustive police efforts could find no evidence such a person even existed.
Kociuk was initially interviewed as a potential suspect because he was seen by police in the area where the killing occurred on the day before Dyke's body was found by a jogger. Kociuk had been under police surveillance for armed robbery and claimed he was meeting someone to buy a gun for his next heist.
"Wrong guy. I do holdups. You guys know. I don't do murder," Kociuk told investigators at the time.
www.mikeoncrime.com
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 26, 2010 B3
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