Police spent more than two weeks conducting an exhaustive search for evidence in the wooded marshy area where Joseph Topping’s body was found on February 14, 2018, as jurors heard on Thursday the second day of the alleged killer’s trial. By the time the investigation ended on March 2, officers with two Ontario Provincial Police specialized investigation units, who were supplementing local and regional investigators in Elliot Lake, had combed the area, a forensics officer testified. They cleared a large area – 100 meters by 100 meters – of cats and discovered a number of items, Const. Rodney Petroski said. Officers also returned to the scene several times after March 2 as weather conditions changed. Brad Southwood has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of a man described as his best friend. Topping’s body was discovered near a footpath behind his apartment building at 149 Mississauga Avenue after his mother reported her 31-year-old son missing in January. In his detailed deposition, Petroski, who now works out of North Bay, described the role he played in the investigation. The 23-year-old officer said he became involved after the body was discovered next to a pump station, near a dump site. He took pictures at the site, near the area of the swamp where the body was lying in the middle of the reeds. Petroski said he could see Topping’s black felt jacket with red leather sleeves and there was a blood-like substance on the debris. A tent was placed over the dead body, with two propane heaters to melt the snow and protect any traces of evidence, he told Assistant Crown Attorney Karen Pritchard. On February 15, the body was taken to the Sault Area Hospital for an autopsy. At that point, police were investigating a sudden death, but that changed to a possible homicide on Feb. 22 when an autopsy began, Petroski said. Two days later he returned to Elliot Lake to continue searching for evidence at the site where Topping’s body was found. Officers used metal detectors because they were looking for an edged weapon, he said. They also cleared the vegetative growth so they could get through the snow and dirt. On February 26, Petroski searched Topping’s apartment, where he noted a package of pre-administered medication on the kitchen table. It was distributed to Topping on Dec. 28, 2017, and the three days of medication were gone, but medication for Dec. 31 and beyond was still in the package, the officer said. The next day he used UV lamps to examine the apartment for blood. The results were negative. Petroski said he went back to the swamp area again, checking for an edged weapon “or anything that gave an indication of what happened.” Metal detectors located a Bic lighter, pen, cigarette paper and two zip tabs. Jurors were shown photographs the officer had taken of Topping’s clothing. Petroski then showed them the jacket, showing cuts on the front and back. The jacket was entered into evidence. Pritchard also provided the court with an agreed statement of facts, indicating that an OPP officer had conducted surveillance in Southwind from February 26th to March 2nd. On March 1, the officer saw Southwind leave the lot, smoke a cigarette and drop his butt on the sidewalk. The constable picked up the butt and handed it to a detective. On March 16, a search warrant was executed at Southwind’s apartment, which was in the same building as Topping. Officers conducted a search the next day and seized 10 items, including four kitchen knives, a pair of scissors, jeans and a sock with a blood-like substance on them, Petroski said. Special equipment was used to investigate behind pipes in the kitchen and bathroom. Police were looking “for a knife and other evidence” but “didn’t find anything,” he said. Petroski returned to the marsh area on May 1 and significant snowmelt had occurred. Working with a metal detector he found a butter knife in the muddy water and ice. On May 10, Petroski and 23 members of the Emergency Response Team conducted a search along both sides of the footpath from the Mississauga Avenue apartment building to the pump station and then to where the body was found. Petroski said he spotted a black windbreaker jacket about 100 feet from where the body was located. The Crown introduced this jacket into evidence at trial. During cross-examination by defense attorney Anthony Orazietti, the officer indicated that there was an ongoing police presence at the scene until March 2. This was to prevent contamination and to stop people going in and out of that area, he told Orazietti. Petroski agreed he’s not sure how long the items he discovered in May had been there. On Thursday, jurors also heard testimony from a DNA expert from the Forensic Science Center. Tara Brutzki is a medical examiner who is in charge of the biology department of the center’s Sault Ste. Marie location. He told District Attorney David Didiodato that the center made a number of reports on items that police had submitted for DNA testing. A swab from a Bic lighter produced mixed DNA from three people, including at least one male. Neither Topping nor Southwind could be ruled out, and there is strong support that both men contributed to the mix, Brutzki said. The black jacket Petroski found had some reddish-brown and brown stains on it. Six samples were tested and no DNA was detected in some of them, he said. A mixture of DNA from three people was found on one of the sleeves and again neither Topping nor Southwind could be ruled out as contributors. During cross-examination, defense attorney Don Orazietti said the samples cannot be aged, so it cannot be determined when and how they got into the lighter and jacket. Brutzki agreed that two samples from the jacket had very small amounts of DNA. Superior Court Judge Annalisa Rasaiah is presiding over the trial, which resumes Monday in Sault Ste. Maria courthouse.
