A man charged with murdering a Saskatoon woman 10 years ago believes the RCMP tampered with evidence.
Douglas Hales was on the stand at Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench Tuesday for the second day in a row following a three-week break in his trial. He’s charged with the first-degree murder of Daleen Bosse, whose burned remains were found northeast of Saskatoon four years after she was last seen at a Saskatoon nightclub in 2004.
Hales told court he believed RCMP edited an audio recording of him speaking with two undercover officers. The recording was part of a so-called ‘Mr. Big’ sting operation by officers investigating Bosse’s disappearance.
An officer who testified earlier in the case said the recording was made in August 2008 at a location north of Saskatoon where Hales told the undercover officers he had disposed of Bosse’s body.
Hales claimed Tuesday the recording, which is muffled and difficult to understand at certain points, was edited to include a sound bite.
He also told court he lied to the sting operation’s fake crime boss when he told him he killed Bosse.
Hales told the boss he put a discarded fridge over top of Bosse’s body, but on Tuesday, Hales said the fridge was actually 10 to 15 feet away from where he disposed of her remains.
Police photos and videos show the fridge on top of the remains. Hales testified Tuesday someone moved the fridge to make the scene match his lie to the undercover crime boss.
Hales said in an earlier testimony that Bosse died of what he believed was alcohol poisoning as they drank in her car at an old landfill. He said he panicked, since he was the one who supplied the alcohol, and decided to burn her body rather than face a potential murder charge.
Hales’ trial took a three-week break after court spent much time debating a police video in which Hales confessed to strangling Bosse.
The video was part of a voir dire — a separate hearing to determine the admissibility of evidence — for several days before a judge determined it would be allowed as evidence.
Hales made the confession to officers shortly after he was informed of the ‘Mr. Big’ sting operation. He said Tuesday he was devastated once the RCMP’s three-month-long sting was revealed and told police that he strangled Bosse because he didn’t think they’d believe what really happened.
The trial is scheduled to wrap up Wednesday.
Bosse was 26 when she was killed. She was a mother and fourth-year university student studying to be a teacher.
--- with files from the Canadian Press
