Jurors in the trial of a Saskatoon man accused of killing his wife piled into a bus Wednesday to travel the same route that led police to her body.
Dorothy Woods went missing in November 2011 and her body was found in a culvert south of Saskatoon on Jan. 4, 2012.
Her husband, David Woods, is charged with first-degree murder in her death.
Court heard last week that police had installed GPS devices to two vehicles registered to David Woods. One vehicle was tracked, just two days before Dorothy’s body was found, travelling south on Highway 11 towards Blackstrap Lake before turning around and returning to the couple’s home on Riel Crescent.
The truck made the trip Jan. 2, 2012 just hours after police issued a news release stating an adult female’s body was found east of Saskatoon. The body was not Dorothy Woods.
Sgt. David Hudson, the lead investigator in the case, testified the route struck him as strange. He said police decided to search the Blackstrap Lake Valley area two days later on Jan. 4.
Fifteen minutes into the search, they found Dorothy’s body in a culvert.
The trip Wednesday took about 45 minutes. A police-led convoy drove out to the Blackstrap Lake area south of Saskatoon from the couple’s home before turning around.
The judge told jurors the drive could be useful in helping them understand evidence presented at the trial.
Saskatchewan's chief forensic pathologist testified on Tuesday that Dorothy Woods died before she was dumped in the culvert.
Dr. Shaun Ladham said she was possibly knocked unconscious before she was strangled with a rope.
Court was previously told the couple's marriage was on the rocks, that Dorothy had had an affair and that she had told her husband she was leaving him.
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with files from the Canadian Press
