Content warning: This story contains graphic details
Stacey Worsfold was so worried about her father on a July 2017 afternoon, that she filed a missing person’s report with the RCMP.
What followed was a days-long frantic search for her father, which culminated in the eventual discovery of his body in a rural area outside of Edmonton.
The Crown delivered their opening statement Wednesday with shocking alleged details in the first-degree murder trial of St. Albert resident Beryl Musila, 33, accused in the July 7, 2017 death of St. Albert senior Ronald William Worsfold, 75.
Musila currently has no lawyer and is self-representing for the six week-long trial, which is expected to see 50 witnesses.
Crown prosecutor Patricia Hankinson laid out the shape of their case to the jury on Wednesday morning, which alleges Musila drugged Worsfold, then stabbed him and beat him with a hammer until he died. Hankinson said the Crown believes his body was put in a blue tote and transported to several locations in the region, including a residence on a rural property outside of Edmonton.
The Crown asserts the incident took place between 10 p.m. and midnight on the evening of July 7, 2017.
Hankinson said through the six week trial the court would show Musila had a guest in the apartment after midnight that night, and that Musila said Worsfold was out of town, although he was already deceased in the apartment.
Hankinson said Worsfold and Musila were residing together in the apartment building on Mission Avenue in July 2017, although Musila also had an apartment unit elsewhere in the building.
The next day, a cab driver arrived at the apartment and drove Musila to another residence, Hankinson said. Two witnesses who were at the house are expected to testify about their interactions with Musila during the trial.
Hankinson alleged the taxi driver then took Musila to a Morinville hotel where the tote was left on the sidewalk in the sun for an hour. Following the hotel stop, the Crown alleges Musila took the tote on two more stops, ending at a home where there was a party going on to celebrate the end of someone’s parole.
There, two men took the tote and left it in a rural forested area, the Crown said. Eventually one of the men called the RCMP.
RCMP interview
Musila was interviewed prior to the discovery of Worsfold’s body, the Crown said, and at that time she denied any knowledge of his whereabouts.
“After the discovery of the body, Musila was arrested and interviewed again,” Hankinson said.
In the second interview, Hankinson said, Musila said she was involved in the death, and said she drugged him, that she believed him to be overdosed, and that she attacked him by stabbing and hitting him with a hammer.
Hankinson said later in that second statement, Musila said a man prosecutors have described as her boyfriend was more involved in Worsfold’s death.
“This case is not about (that man) and whether he has any involvement of the death of Ronald Worsfold,” Hankinson said.
Hankinson told the jury they didn’t have to find or agree on a motive in the case in order to make their finding.
“This means that you need not find a motive for Ms. Musila’s actions in order to find her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of first-degree murder,” Hankinson said.
Amicus lawyer Greg Worobec was present in court, appointed not as her attorney, but to make sure she had a fair trial.
Trial resumes Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
