clarinews@clarinet.com (anderson/cfrb-ckfm) (02/01/90)
(Toronto) It's been a tough day on the stand for a witness at the Julie Bowers murder trial in Toronto. Joanne Collins claims she saw an empty baby seat in Bowers' car before the child was reported missing in January of 1988. The 11-month-old boy was later found frozen to death in a snowbank near Kincardine, Ontario.. The lawyer for Julie Bowers is trying to punch holes in the testimony of Joanne Collins. He's been trying to get Collins to clarify exactly what she saw in the parking lot...where Bowers told police her son was kidnapped while she was doing some banking. Under gruelling cross examination, Collins couldn't remember the color of the car seat or what Bowers was wearing that day. Collins' testimony has been filled with ``I Don't know'' and ``I can't remember''...prompting the defence lawyer to suggest that she is purposely hiding the facts. The jury has also been told that Collins waited nearly two years before telling her story to police.
clarinews@clarinet.com (Kelly/CFRB/CKFM) (02/02/90)
(TORONTO) The Kincardine woman who claims she called police with important information about the Julie Bowers case, but was never called back, took the stand again today. Joanne Collins is testifying at the trial where Julie Bowers is accused of the murder of her 11-month old son. Bowers claims her son Dusty was abducted from the car while she was doing some banking. But Joanne Collins has testified she saw the baby seat empty before Bowers went into the bank. Collins says she called Kincardine police to tell them that, and was not called back. When told about the fact there was no record of the phone call, she elaborated a bit. Collins says she spoke to a woman, was passed over to a man, gave her name and phone number and told him she saw Julie Bowers in her car in the parking lot. She says ``He specifically asked me if the child was in the car seat and I said no.'' Collins says she never received a return phone call, and waited 22-months before giving her statement to provincial police.