GUILTY Canada - William Staples, 67, & Rhonda Borelli, 36, murdered, Binbrook, Ont, Jan 1998

deugirtni

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I have been waiting and waiting for this trial to finally begin.

Back in 1998 William Staples and his adult daughter, Rhonda Borelli, were murdered.. their bodies found 5 months later in the trunk of the victim's truck bed discovered in the parking lot of the Toronto Int'l Airport. LE suspected Staples' other offspring, Mark Staples (Borelli's brother), however he was not arrested until 2010. He has been out on bail all this time! His preliminary hearing in 2012 ruled there was enough evidence to go to tral. Trial date seemed difficult to locate, but finally found out it starts soon, on September 22nd in Hamilton, ON. The accused inherited his millionaire father's inheritance, which apparently is already spent, and he now needs public assistance to cover his legal costs for his murder trial. Does anyone remember this case? Can't WAIT. Would LOVE to see justice served.

I have posted some links for info.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4690066-clairmont-orphaned-by-murder-this-is-the-boy-who-was-left-behind/

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/2156366-twist-in-staples-double-murder-case/

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/2182406-police-charge-staples-surety-with-making-false-statement/

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/2275620-mark-staples-charged-in-cold-case-murder/

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/2275493-search-for-the-staples-and-the-slayer/
 
Looking forward to your updates on this trial......
 
Finally the trial... and thanks for the links.
 
I have been waiting for an update on the jury selection and trial...any work?
 
Susan Clairmont of the Hamilton Spectator is live tweeting from the trial:

https://twitter.com/susanclairmont

Susan Clairmont @susanclairmont · 3h 3 hours ago
Jury has just been brought in. Trial expected to last three months. #hamont

Crown says Mark had a failing golf business and killed Bill for money. By killing sister too he inherited it all: $1.4 million. #hamont

Crown's first witness is Terry Hill, retired
@HamiltonPolice detective.

Susan Clairmont @susanclairmont · 1h 1 hour ago
Describing arrival at Park and Fly near Toronto airport at 2:15 am June 9, 1998. Truck with bodies had been found.

Susan Clairmont @susanclairmont · 45m 45 minutes ago
Detective wrote search warrant to remove slab of concrete from shed at farm after forensics found blood stains. Showing photo.

Susan Clairmont @susanclairmont · 32m 32 minutes ago
Jury now seeing photos of incinerator on Staples farm in Binbrook. Witness saw Mark burning something around time Bill and Rhonda vanished.

Susan Clairmont @susanclairmont · 31m 31 minutes ago
Police sifted through ashes and found two buckles, six buttons, three zipper pulls, eight pennies.
 
I am hearing reports of a female prosecutor, perhaps she is part of Tony's team.

Yes, according to Susan Clairmont Lidia Norozniak did the opening. Not sure if she did the questioning, too?

Susan Clairmont @susanclairmont · 10h 10 hours ago
Justice Harrison Arryl is giving instructions to jury. Crowns are Tony Leitch and Lidia Narozniak. Defence is Marco Sciarra. #hamont

Susan Clairmont @susanclairmont · 9h 9 hours ago
Narozniak doing the opening. "This case is about the murder of two god people by a son, by a brother, for money."
 
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4...re-father-sister-killed-for-money-says-crown/

It is a simple and powerful theory: Mark Staples murdered his millionaire father and sister for the money.

More than $1.4 million.

"This is a case about the murder of two good people — by a son, by a brother — for money," assistant Crown attorney Lidia Narozniak told the jury in her opening statement. "The evidence will show Mark Staples murdered his father and sister to save his dream of running Mulligan's Golf Centre."

That is the Crown's case in a nutshell, unveiled Monday to a jury of eight women and four men who will spend three months hearing evidence of the homicides that took place nearly 17 years ago. Staples is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
 
http://www.mississauga.com/news-sto...re-father-sister-killed-for-money-says-crown/

William Staples — Bill — and Rhonda Borelli were killed between Jan. 16 and 19, 1998, court heard. They vanished from Bill's Binbrook farm, along with his white Sonoma pickup truck. It was nearly six months before their decomposed bodies were found in the back of the truck at a Park'N Fly lot near the Toronto airport. Retired Hamilton Police homicide detective Terry Hill testified "the bodies were in such a state that we were afraid if we picked them up they would literally fall apart."

A pair of gloves, a sledgehammer, a crowbar and a trailer hitch were all found with the truck. The pathologist who performed the autopsy ruled out the sledgehammer as the murder weapon, the jury heard. An autopsy concluded Bill's head was bashed in, "multiple blows by a heavy object," causing 140 fractures.

Rhonda's cause of death couldn't be determined. But a large pool of her blood was soaked into the concrete floor of a drive shed on the farm.
 
He is a piece of work. His kids and ex have utilities turned off and he's off to the Dominican with one of his waitresses.

This should be a fast trial and very quick decision for the jury. MOO
 
It seems so odd to see the accused just walking freely away from his murder trial. Normally murder-accuseds are incarcerated. MS also apparently has no supporters in the courtroom.
 
From http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4...0-focus-of-testimony-at-staples-murder-trial/

The day was a contrast between the tiny, precise details noticed by bankers and a forensic handwriting expert and the broad-stroke portraits of Bill and Rhonda painted by family, friends and acquaintances.

Much time was spent on a $20,000 cheque written from Bill's business account and made out to Mulligan's Golf Centre, Mark's venture on Rymal Road. It was deposited into the Mulligan's account at the CIBC in Binbrook on Jan. 14, 1998.

On Jan. 16 at 11:45 a.m., Sheriff Stephen Martin went to that branch and executed an order to seize the account, which contained $20,511. The seizure resulted from a lawsuit that consultant Peter Godfrey had filed against Mulligan's.

The seizure happened perhaps hours before the murders. Bill and Rhonda are believed to have died between Jan. 16 and 19.

When Kay Swayze took the stand, she wasn't there to talk handwriting or banking.

She talked about a baby boy who became her world.

The 80-year-old teacher, who still does supply teaching for kindergarten classes, is the sister of the late Gloria Staples. ......

She made sure Rhonda and William had a close bond, bringing him to the farm often for visits. Everyone fussed over the baby except for Mark. .....

That little guy is a man now, 21. And as he listened to the testimony of the woman who raised him, he looked long and hard across the courtroom at his Uncle Mark.
 
Here is another update from today. This seems so very sad to me (see below quote from news article, BBM); is it not clear what the intent was of Rhonda's will, that she wished to leave her inheritance to her only child? Just because she had been unable to raise him, and he had subsequently been adopted by a relative, I'm pretty sure Rhonda would have wanted any monies to go to the child she birthed, rather than to her brother. As it turns out legally, I suppose she had nothing to give him anyway.

Once the bodies were found, the wills went into effect.

Bill's wife, Gloria, was to be his beneficiary, but she predeceased him, so the estate was to be divided between Rhonda and Mark.

If Bill had died before Rhonda, it was possible her portion of the inheritance would, in turn, go to her beneficiaries. It could not be determined who died first, so a Toronto estate law firm was consulted and said Mark was the sole beneficiary of Bill's estate.

Rhonda's will stated her own estate should go to her husband. But he had passed away. Next would be her son. But William had been adopted by Rhonda's aunt, so under the law, he was no longer Rhonda's child. That left Mark and her brother-in-law.

Mazza says only Mark claimed his share — about $500.

A year after the murders, Mazza began distributing the inheritance to Mark. Even if there was suspicion around him, he had not been charged and Mazza was legally bound to carry out the will.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4905429-staples-sole-inheritor-to-dad-s-fortune-lawyer/
 
I totally agree Rhonda's inheritance should have gone to her birth child. Something strange about the lawyer being such a good friend and supporter! I would like to know the relationship between Staples lawyer and this Toronto estate law firm. Something here doesn't sit right to me. Just my opinion.
 
Today's trial update (BBM); I wonder where they're going with this, whether they are inferring that the two were alive on Jan15 and murdered sometime between later in the day on Jan15 and 8am Jan 16? Or whether they were murdered prior to 10;30am Jan15? (But then who would the woman have been who called at 11:20am to say Bill would be late for his appointment, which he never showed up for?)

-[Jan15]-
.... On this particular morning, Bill phoned between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. asking to see the doctor "for an emergency." He did not elaborate.
"He sounded a bit anxious but not to the point where I got the doctor on the phone to speak to him directly," Rodrigues told the court.
She booked him in for 11:30 a.m., but 10 minutes prior, a woman called to say Bill would be late.
"I assumed it was Rhonda," Rodrigues said.
Bill never did show up.
-[if we assume that Ms. Barlow had the date wrong, and that it was in fact Jan15?]-
Ruth Barlow lived on Hall Road, near the Staples' farm. A statement she gave to police was read into evidence because she has passed away.
On Jan. 16, she was up to go to a medical appointment. It had snowed overnight.
Between 8 and 9 a.m. she saw a John Deere tractor with a blade on the front drive east on Hall Road, "right past my house."
She did not see the driver.
Between 10:20 and 10:30 a.m., she saw the same tractor heading back the other way.

-[if we assume the date was Jan15 again]-
Her neighbour, Gary Birch, testified he was walking his dog on Hall Road in mid-January when he saw Mark Staples drive by in his tractor, heading west. They waved to one another.
"I cannot tell you what morning," he said, "because it wasn't a significant morning to me."
Birch walked his dog daily for 45 minutes starting around 8:30 a.m.
One to two hours later, while home, Birch heard a tractor and looked out the window. "It was the same tractor," he said.
-[Jan15]-
Roger Chrichton was the manager of Queenston Mall in January 1998. He had a contract with Mark Staples to plow the mall parking lot and considered him "the best snow plower I ever had." But the morning of Jan. 15, 1998, Mark was a no-show.
Chrichton called three phone numbers trying to find him. He finally showed up between 10 and 11 a.m.
-[Jan16]-
The next day, just before 8 a.m., officer Brett Campbell of the Hamilton-Wentworth Police was parked behind Queenston Mall and noticed an idling snowplow. The driver wasn't stirring.
"I beeped my horn. Sounded the air horn. I climbed up on the snow machine to make sure he was OK." The man was "groggy" but fine, saying he had been awake for two days. Campbell did not ask his name or fill out a report. Only later did he understand the significance of the exchange.
-[Jan19 or 20]-
Special Const. Linda Walsh was at the police station on Jan. 19 or 20 when she took a call from a man wishing to report his father missing.
He went on to say his dad might be away with his sister.
Walsh told the caller to check with family and friends before filing a report. She did not ask his name.
Later, an internal email sought the call taker.

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4912730-live-jury-hears-details-of-staples-debt-trail/
 

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