A 78-year-old woman took the stand on Monday to testify about a traumatic event that occurred nearly 42 years ago. The woman, whose identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban, alleges that she was raped in the parkade of her condo building in Edmonton, Canada, in 1981.
John Beausoleil, a 69-year-old man from Orillia, Ontario, is currently on trial in Edmonton’s Court of King’s Bench for one count each of rape and robbery, in connection to the alleged attack on September 18, 1981. Beausoleil is charged with rape under the 1981 Criminal Code after Edmonton police decided to re-evaluate the decades-old case in October 2018.
According to the woman’s testimony, after finishing her shift at an electronics store on September 17, 1981, she went out for drinks with friends. When it was time to go home, she gave a man she had met a ride, dropping him off on the way. She then drove to Lancaster Terrace, a condo complex in northwest Edmonton.
The woman testified that she parked in the underground parkade and was out of her car, standing near the trunk, when someone grabbed her from behind. “This man came from the right side of me and grabbed both my arms and told me not to move,” she said.
She stated that the man demanded her to take off her clothes, and she refused. He then tore off her dress and forced her onto the ground, where he raped her. She said he threatened her with a knife, although she never saw a weapon, and that he broke her little finger on her left hand during the assault. After the assault, the man grabbed her purse and fled the scene.
The woman testified that she went to a neighbor’s door for help, and the police were called. The next day, she recovered her purse, but her cash was missing.
During her testimony, the woman identified the defendant, John Beausoleil, as the perpetrator. She described his eyes as “very scary” and stated that he looked dangerous and mean.
Peter Demers, the original detective in the case who is now retired, also testified on Monday about the original investigation. Demers, who worked in what was then called the sex crimes unit, took the woman to the hospital for examination and collected swabs and blood samples. He also collected the woman’s pantyhose and the dress she had been wearing at the time of the assault.
Demers stated that while the case was never officially closed, the lab results at the time did not provide much evidence to pursue the case, and it was not cleared by the time he left the police force in 1985.
In his opening statement, Crown prosecutor Jim Stewart revealed that a stain found on the woman’s dress was retested for DNA in 2019, and it was a match with the defendant, John Beausoleil.
During cross-examination, Beausoleil’s defense lawyer, Brian Beresh, challenged both the woman’s and Demers’ memories. He suggested to the woman that she had originally believed a different man, who had been in the news for other crimes at the time, was her assailant. He also suggested that she may have forgotten having sexual contact with someone else around the time of the alleged rape, which the woman denied.
Beresh also questioned Demers about his original notes, which he claimed had disappeared. Demers testified that he believes his records were shredded after he left the police force in 1985.
Demers will return for further cross-examination on Tuesday, and the trial is scheduled to run until April 26.