First-degree murder charge stayed in fatal child abuse case

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This article was published 12/11/2014 (4226 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Venecia Audy was sexually assaulted and brutally killed in a case that helped spark a review of Manitoba’s child-welfare system.

Yet it appears nobody will be held responsible for the crime. Justice officials say a major change in evidence forced them to let their prime suspect walk out of court a free man this week.

A first-degree murder charge against the three-year-old victim’s stepfather, Jason Kines, was stayed on Monday in a Brandon courtroom in just the latest chapter in this troubling legal saga.

Venecia died in August 2006 while living with Kines and her mother, Melissa Audy, at their home in Bowsman, about 20 km north of Swan River. Venecia suffered numerous injuries, including a fractured skull, lacerated liver, broken ribs, a spinal injury, numerous bruises throughout her body and several human bite marks. She was also undersized, weighing just 27 pounds.

Kines was previously put on trial in 2012 only to be found not guilty after the judge refused to allow a key piece of evidence to be used against him.

The Crown filed an appeal, citing a miscarriage of justice. It took less than an hour for the three-justice panel to rule in their favour, overturn the acquittal and order a new trial.

It had been two years since that decision. Crown attorney Jim Ross explained Monday that it would be “unsafe” to proceed any further.

“The Crown’s case against Mr. Kines was based on bite mark evidence found on the deceased child’s body. These were low-evidentiary bite marks. They offer limited detail about the biter,” Ross began in reading a prepared statement to the court.

He said since the first trial, two other forensic experts have been consulted by the Crown. And they came to vastly different conclusions, both from each other and the original expert.

“We now have three well-respected experts who disagree about whether Mr. Kines could have caused the marks,” said Ross.

There have been other changes as well. Ross said the “assu

mption there was a limited pool of potential biters” has now been proven wrong but didn’t expand on that. As well, he said further DNA analysis of the bite marks shows the presence of an unknown male’s DNA profile, and that of a female.

“It’s simply too uncertain a case and it would be unsafe to proceed on the basis of the forensic evidence we have,” said Ross.

The Crown had always admitted the case against Kines was largely circumstantial. Much of the case against Kines involved bite marks on Venecia’s buttocks and vaginal area the Crown claimed were from Kines. The first forensics expert had testified at the initial trial that Kines was the probable biter.

Kines previously pleaded guilty to failing to provide the necessities of life and was given 10 months in jail in addition to time already served. This related to failing to get any medical care for the child.

Audy pleaded guilty to the same charge in 2009. At her sentencing, Audy admitted to waiting several hours before calling 911 to report her daughter was severely injured. Audy told authorities Venecia had fallen down the stairs.

Kines wasn’t home when the girl died and was out the night before Venecia was killed. A friend who picked him up for work the next day said he saw Venecia alive.

The Crown could not prove Kines was the only man who might have violated the child because the basement window opened wide enough to admit an adult.

Audy had her first child when she was 15. She was deemed unfit to parent and the children were placed with a family member as part of a voluntary order in 2003. Audy later fought to regain the children, who were returned to her in March 2006.

The province asked children’s advocate Billie Schibler to look into the case and those of 15 other children involved with CFS who died in 2004 and 2005. The province never released the complete report, though some recommendations have been made public, and Venecia’s death was one of several that sparked a $48-million overhaul of the provincial child-welfare system.

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