The jury in the arson triple homicide trial of Liam Stinson trial heard emotional testimony from the mother of one the victims, who told the court the man accused in the trial had made death threats against her and her family.
In Sudbury Superior Court on March 26, Christine Wright, mother of Jamie-Lynn Rose, wept as she detailed the last conversation she had with Rose two to three weeks before the fatal Bruce Avenue fire on April 11, 2021. She testified she asked her daughter to come home on every call, and did so again this time.
Wright testified Rose told her she needed to wait a few weeks, until things “cooled down.”
Wright said Rose told her Stinson had threatened to kill Wright, Wright’s husband, and Rose’s two children should she leave Sudbury.
At the time, Rose told her mother she was staying in the home of David Cheff, her childhood friend, and was safe there. Cheff’s unit was destroyed by fire on April 11, 2021, taking the life of Rose, Guy Henri and Jasmine Somers, as well as severely injuring Cheff.
“I said Jamie, just come home, this is silly,” Wright testified. “I didn't think that (the fire) was gonna happen,” she added, weeping profusely.
Stinson is on trial for his alleged role in the fire, and in addition to arson charges is facing three counts of first-degree murder.
Wright testified Rose first came to Sudbury in 2019 to study to be a medical secretary. Rose moved here with her boyfriend of five years, but they broke up in “February or March of 2020”, said Wright, and she testified she came to Sudbury to live with her daughter for a few weeks after that. Though Rose had not been using drugs when she moved to Sudbury, Wright testified her daughter had previously struggled with cannabis and cocaine.
Wright testified it was when she came to stay with her daughter she realized Rose was using drugs again.
Rose returned to Timmins in June of 2020 when the lease on her apartment was up, and Wright testified she and her husband rented an apartment for Rose in Shillington, a small rural village east of Timmins on Highway 101.
Wright testified she spoke to Rose daily on the phone, and brought groceries to her, but that Rose again “disappeared” in Sept. 2020, headed back to Sudbury.
Wright testified she only knew Stinson as the partner of Rose’s school friend, Kayla.
“Kayla was her friend from school, and came to stay at Jamie’s a few times because she was scared,” testified Wright, though she did not explain why Kayla felt this way.
Wright spoke with her daughter again when Rose was back in Sudbury, and testified she learned in December, 2020, that Rose and Stinson were in a relationship.
Wright corroborated testimony given by GSPS Const. Katherine Hucal, in that she called police after a conversation with her daughter on Dec. 20, 2020. Hucal was the officer who investigated, later finding Rose at the warming centre on Frood Road. Wright paid for a bus ticket back to Timmins for Rose, which Hucal helped secure.
By Dec. 27, Rose had stopped responding to Wright, and was not found at her home in Shillington. She had gone back to Sudbury, and stayed with Stinson until she moved in with Cheff a few weeks before the fire.
Rose died in Sunnybrook Hospital Toronto on April 16, 2021, four days after the fire. Wright testified their family took the first available flight to see her, but she was on life-support, had no brain activity and her organs had begun to fail.
“My husband, my son and myself decided that we didn't want to put her through that anymore.”
For most of the afternoon session, jurors went to a drug school of sorts, with an education offered by OPP Det.-Sgt. Chris Miller, who has extensive history and training in drug enforcement. He prepared a glossary of terms for the jury, and described some of the more common types, amounts and cost of the drugs involved in the trial, including cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Trial will resume with further Crown witnesses March 27 at 10:00 a.m.
Jenny Lamothe is a reporter with Sudbury.com.
