Accused murderer Joseph “David” Caissie told undercover police officers he stabbed Carol King once in the heart and disposed of her dead body in a treed area in rural Saskatchewan in 2011.
Caissie went on a road trip with undercover officers in June 2016 so Caissie could re-enact how he killed King, disposed of her body, and to prove to a fake crime boss there were no loose ends in the murder, according to Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga.
Caissie, who is charged with first-degree murder in King’s death, was part of a Mr. Big Sting, in which police officers go undercover and bring a person suspected of a crime into an undercover crime ring with the purpose of getting a confession.
Parts of the audio from the operation’s road trip were played during a voir dire – a trial within a trial to determine if evidence is admissible– in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench Wednesday. Justice Richard Danyliuk will decide whether the evidence, including Caissie’s confession, can be used in the trial.
Caissie and the two officers can be heard conversing comfortably in a vehicle while Caissie displays an understanding of the west-central Saskatchewan area.
The group drives by King’s home near Herschel and Caissie explains how he waited in a Quonset on her property then grabbed King when she was opening the door to another building. He said he tied her up and drove her to a treed area.
The group drove the same route Caissie did to the area where King’s body was found.
“I stabbed her and then I dragged her back in here,” Caissie can be heard on the audio recording after they arrive at the area.
“How many times?” an officer asks.
“One right through the heart,” Caissie responds.
Caissie explained how he drove to and from the area from different directions so he wouldn’t be seen twice and that he drove King’s vehicle into a slough before burning his clothes and taking off in his truck.
“You didn’t worry about anybody seeing you?” an officer asks.
“The crop was tall and I could see the road from where I was going,” Caissie responded.
The officers asked Caissie several questions including what King was wearing when she died, if she said anything to him and what the area looked like at the time.
“Any more questions because I really don’t feel comfortable around here,” Caissie eventually said to the officers.
King, 40, disappeared on Aug. 6, 2011 near Herschel, Sask. Her car was found days later in a slough east of her home, and later that month her remains were found a few kilometres from where the car was recovered.
Her house was damaged by arson a few months after she disappeared and a mysterious granite cross was put up.
A passage on the memorial read: “The Lord he came and got me, and took me far away. Remember, I wasn’t in my body when the Devil came to play.”
It also stated: “Please don’t give him your hate, he’s not worth it.”
Caissie spoke with CTV News a few days after the fire at King’s home and said he had nothing to do with King’s death and the circumstances surrounding it.
In the audio recording Caissie mentions King was spreading rumours about him and telling neighbours about his “past.”
The officers asked Caissie if anyone else knew about the killing, which he vehemently denied.
“I’ve never told a soul. Period,” he said. “There isn’t a soul, other than you three, on the face of the earth (that knows).”