Witness’ behaviour ‘vile’ but believable, jury told

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Prosecutors have urged jurors not to be distracted by a one-time co-accused’s “vile” involvement in the murder of 56-year-old Bud Paul, arguing her testimony confirmed independent evidence pointing to the guilt of Aaron Mousseau Abigosis.

Abigosis, 43, is on trial for first-degree murder in the Aug. 3, 2020, killing. Former co-accused Janine Atkinson was granted immunity from prosecution in return for her testimony.

“Let me be clear, Aaron Abigosis and Janine Atkinson were both involved in killing Bud Paul,” Crown attorney Mike Himmelman said in a closing argument to jurors Thursday.

“Her behaviour in this instance was vile, but… how important is that to the central issue you must decide in this case?” Himmelman said. “You can be sure when she told you how Bud Paul was killed, she was telling the truth. This is because there is independent evidence confirming what she has told you.”

Himmelman pointed to Atkinson’s testimony that Abigosis used what she described as a machete to kill Paul. A pathologist testified a brush axe later retrieved from the trunk of Paul’s burned-out car was consistent with a weapon that would have produced the sharp force injuries inflicted on Paul.

“The murder weapon no one from the public could have known about, a murder weapon with both the deceased’s and the accused’s DNA on the handle — not Janine Atkinson’s,” Himmelman said.

Paul’s naked, decomposed remains were discovered Aug. 11, 2020, in a stand of willows, off a dead-end road on the northern edge of Roseau River First Nation, Atkinson’s home reserve.

Prosecutors allege Abigosis killed Paul on Aug. 3. Paul was beaten and slashed in the abdomen with what prosecutors have described as a brush axe.

Paul’s burned-out vehicle was found on Queen Street, near Polo Park mall, on Aug. 10.

Atkinson testified she met Paul over Facebook in mid-July and then in person for the first time roughly two weeks later.

“He was looking for companionship,” she said. “We would just drive around, hang out.”

On July 31, Atkinson and Abigosis, whom she had met earlier that summer, spent the night with Paul, watching movies at his Hespeler Avenue apartment.

The next morning, Paul agreed to drive Abigosis and Atkinson to Pine Creek First Nation, where Abigosis wanted to pick up a cheque from his mother, Atkinson told court.

Atkinson said they stopped at Long Plains First Nation, near Portage la Prairie, where Abigosis visited a few houses “to get high.”

By 4:45 p.m., the trio was in Neepawa, where security cameras captured Atkinson purchasing a bottle of vodka at a liquor store. Security video showed Abigosis behind the wheel and Paul in the backseat when they drove out of the parking lot.

Atkinson said she had been using cocaine during the road trip and described herself at times being “really intoxicated.”

Abigosis drove to Dauphin where he “went to a couple of places” and visited his sister before driving on to Pine Creek, Atkinson said. There, Abigosis went to his mother’s house and picked up his cheque, while Paul waited in the car.

Atkinson said they left Pine Creek and were headed toward Dauphin on a dirt road when Abigosis stopped the car and pulled Paul out of the backseat.

Abigosis “started fighting (Paul)… he f—-ing football-kicked him in the balls” and punched him in the face, she said.

Atkinson said she heard Abigosis tell Paul “something about being a john and picking up chicks.”

Atkinson took the wheel at Abigosis’s direction and the group returned to Dauphin, where Atkinson and Abigosis spent the night at his sister’s home, while Paul remained in the car.

“I went to the vehicle (the next morning) and he was still there,” she said. “He was breathing and laying there… He was pretty injured and bruised up in the face.”

Abigosis’s sister helped Paul into the house while Abigosis took the car “to get some dope,” Atkinson said.

The group drove to Winnipeg the next day, with Abigosis at the wheel. Atkinson said they drove past Health Sciences Centre at which time she urged Abigosis to stop and drop Paul off. Abigosis refused to stop.

“(Police) cruisers were sitting in emergency,” she said. “He didn’t want to stop there: two native people showing up with a badly injured white man.”

Atkinson said they made a few more stops before Abigosis said: “Since you went to my rez, let’s go to your rez.”

“At that moment, we say, the accused made a decision,” Himmelman told jurors Thursday. “He decided to finish what he started on a dirt road between Pine Creek and Dauphin. He decided to finish off Bud Paul.”

Atkinson said they were driving to Rouseau River when they pulled over and Abigosis forced Paul to snort fentanyl.

Atkinson told Abigosis what back roads to take to avoid security on the reserve, which at the time was under pandemic lockdown conditions. They drove down a dead-end road and pulled over. When Abigosis asked her where they should take Paul, she pointed to the bush.

It was Abigosis’s intention to “take (Paul) there to murder him,” Atkinson said. “I know what he was trying to do.”

Atkinson said Paul was unconscious as Abigosis bound him with rope and took him to the bush. She said Abigosis was carrying a machete when he returned to the car.

Abigosis changed his clothes, Atkinson testified, got back behind the wheel and drove back to Winnipeg.

Jurors were shown a police video interview of a woman, Victoria Andrews, who told investigators Abigosis later enlisted her help finding a place to ditch a car he claimed had been stolen and involved in a police chase.

Andrews said she saw Abigosis remove a bag from the trunk of the car and place it in a dumpster around Queen Street where the car was abandoned and set on fire.

Prosecutors allege the bag contained Paul’s clothing.

Andrews, 26, refused to answer questions on the witness stand or corroborate what she had told police.

Atkinson said when she asked Abigosis what he did with the car, he told her he was going to sell it, but instead burned it near Polo Park.

“What possible explanation is there for this conduct other than that Aaron Abigosis was conscious that he had unlawfully killed the deceased and needed to get rid of the evidence, including the weapon we say was used to kill him,” Himmelman said.

Jurors have good reason to be suspicious of Atkinson’s testimony, Himmelman said, but don’t have to believe everything she told court to find Abigosis guilty of murder.

“Any right-thinking person will have some difficulty with Ms. Atkinson’s role in all of this,” he said. “But even if you have concerns about parts of her evidence… if you find that they were parties to the killing, as we urge you to do, she and Mr. Abigosis together are responsible – Mr. Abigosis is still guilty.”

Defence lawyer Tara Walker alleged Atkinson had killed Paul and that she lied about Abigosis’s involvement to save herself from a life sentence in prison.

Walker alleged Abigosis was no longer in the car when Atkinson left Winnipeg and drove Paul to Rouseau River and killed him. While there were multiple security videos confirming the group’s stops outside of the city, there was no security video found that showed their travels after initially returning to Winnipeg, including an alleged drive past Health Sciences Centre, Walker said.

Atkinson claimed Abigosis used a rope to drag Paul into the bush, but no rope was found at the scene and there were no signs of ligature marks on Paul’s remains, Walker said.

“The only source of information of what happened to Bud Paul in Roseau River is Janine Atkinson, and the Crown says you should believe her. We say you shouldn’t.”

Atkinson admitted using Paul’s bank card to withdraw money from his account on one occasion, but claimed to have no memory of three additional confirmed instances where she withdrew money from an ATM.

“If anyone would have gained from the death of Bud Paul, it was Janine Atkinson,” Walker said.

During a police interview in December 2020, investigators showed Atkinson security footage of Paul’s car in Neepawa and was provided Abigosis’s first name, Walker said.

“That directed her attention to Abigosis,” Walker said. “It told her that the police officers were interested in Aaron Abigosis and she saw an opportunity to get out from under this charge.”

Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Tuesday after receiving their final instructions from King’s Bench Justice Sarah Inness.

dean.pritchard@freepres.mb.ca