Travis Martel ,Man guilty of murder after killing girlfriend, recording dying moments

[Whisper]

CALGARY —

A Calgary man who fatally stabbed his girlfriend, then recorded her dying moments with a cellphone camera, has been found guilty of second-degree murder.


Court of Queen's Bench Justice Peter McIntyre delivered the verdict Friday, calling Travis Martel a liar whose story about the death of his girlfriend, Sarah Nicole Rae, evolved over time.


The judge said the video that Martel made on his cellphone was the most telling aspect of his intent.


"His voice is calm and you just have to listen to his words."


Rae, 24, was stabbed following an argument at Martel's Calgary condo on Aug. 3, 2008.


Martel, 35, first told police he returned to his condo to find his girlfriend dead, but changed his story when confronted with the video, which was recovered from his cellphone by a technology crimes analyst after being deleted.


Martel's lawyer argued during the trial that his client should be acquitted, as the stabbing was an accident that occurred while he was defending himself. The lawyer said Martel recorded the video so anyone who saw it would understand it was an accident and that he planned to commit suicide

http://www.windsorstar.com/news/gui...nd+recording+dying+moments/2474282/story.html

 

[Aslan]

What a sweet looking girl. Out of thanks whispers, I'm sorry.
That was a dumb defense. "I recorded her dying because I'm going to kill myself" So why record something DUMBASS? Normally people record things so they can watch it and relive that moment in time.
Murdering bastard

Sleep well Sarah Nicole

 

[Whisper]

What a sweet looking girl. Out of thanks whispers, I'm sorry.
That was a dumb defense. "I recorded her dying because I'm going to kill myself" So why record something DUMBASS? Normally people record things so they can watch it and relive that moment in time.
Murdering bastard

Sleep well Sarah Nicole

Another murder almost exactly was on DD not to long ago and it was solved by cell footage too,think a couple kids beat someone to death and recorded last moments Ill have to look later when I have a minute

 

[this is going badly]

He claimed "self defense" but only after deleting the photos and lying and saying he came home and found her dead. Sick fuck.

 

[TheMorningStar]

The Queen’s Bench judge agreed with Crown prosecutor Gord Wong that Martel killed Rae in a jealous rage over her seeing another man.

He said Martel’s actions right after Rae was stabbed, from videotaping her dying breaths to hiding and attempting to destroy evidence, were inconsistent with an accidental killing.


“His actions and statements on the video are completely inconsistent with accident,â€￾ he said.

During the two-minute recording, Martel zoomed in on Rae’s fatal wound and commented: “Look at the wound you got there, straight to the sternum, right on.â€￾

McIntyre said the final two words indicated Martel was satisfied with what he’d done to Rae.

“Martel did not say it (just) approvingly, he says it with enthusiasm, as Mr. Wong says, he was admiring his work,â€￾ the judge said.

He said the gruesome scene of an unconscious Rae struggling for her last breaths was “the best evidence of what happenedâ€￾ when the knife was plunged into her chest.

“These breaths sound like moans — once heard they are hard to forget, they are her dying breaths,â€￾ McIntyre said.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2010/01/22/12585286-qmi.html

 

[myra manes]

That sick fuck is only 3 hours away from me .. :argh:
What a bastard ..

 

[Whisper]

Yeah I have a brother in Calgary but since I told him to not call if all he could do is ask for money I havent heard from him in over 7 yrs.So I cant call and ask anything b/c then he will call for money again lol.I knew you had moved closer out there when I was posting the story but wasnt sure exactly where you were

 

[myra manes]

Yeah I have a brother in Calgary but since I told him to not call if all he could do is ask for money I havent heard from him in over 7 yrs.So I cant call and ask anything b/c then he will call for money again lol.I knew you had moved closer out there when I was posting the story but wasnt sure exactly where you were

I'm in south Edmonton, only a 2 1/2-3 hour drive, tops .
.
Wonder if this character knew that Jenkins piece of shit ..

 

[Whisper]

Im not sure but I was watching something at work the othernight a talkshow at like 4 am and they are casting a new reality show but have millions of new rules and guidelines.They never used to do background checks and now they search your whole life b/c of that guy when he murdered her.It started with a conversation about Charlie Sheens arrest and how the owners of his show went to him when he was bailed out and read him the riot act and said they would toss him and center around his brother Allens role.B/c of the Jenkins case they have really rewritten the rules for casting people now

 

[Dakota]

Conviction upheld

An Alberta man who videotaped his common-law wife with a cellphone as she lay dying from the stab wound he'd given her will not get the chance to fight his murder conviction in Canada's top court.

The Supreme Court of Canada announced Thursday that it would not hear Travis Marc Martel's appeal.
[...]

The two went to a bar in Calgary on the night of her death where, according to court documents, Martel "exhibited behaviour consistent with jealousy," including calling Rae when she went to the washroom to find out where she was.

Later, at their home, Martel stabbed her in the chest with a large knife, wounding her liver as well as arteries and veins crucial to her body's circulatory system.

Martel used his cellphone to record her death for more than two minutes. He later erased the video according to court documents, but a forensic examiner recovered it.

The video showed the woman lying on a bed struggling to take her last breaths and moaning. It also included several utterances from Martel, including "Look at the wound you got there," "Straight to the sternum. Right on," and "Good that I said I love you."

At first Martel claimed that he had found Rae already dead when he came home from a walk, and only after police recovered the cellphone video did he change his story to say he stabbed her during a struggle after catching her on her phone talking to another man.

The trial judge found that Martel was "a serial and repetitive liar," rejected Martel's evidence, and concluded that Martel's motive was jealousy. The judge concluded Martel intended to kill Rae.

Martel argued that the verdict was unreasonable and that the trial judge erred in characterizing the cellphone video as part of one continuous act that resulted in Rae's death. He also argued the judge was wrong to infer a motive and in finding that the Crown proved the intent to commit murder beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Court of Appeal of Alberta dismissed Martel's appeal on April 5, 2011. In its decision, the court found the grounds of appeal to be without merit.

"Even if the trial judge had erred in any of the ways alleged by the appellant, none of these errors would have affected the outcome or trial fairness," the decision said.

In terms of the cellphone video, the court agreed with the trial judge that the video's evidence was consistent with intent.

"We do not find it necessary to decide whether making a video tape of the dying victim whom the appellant has just stabbed constitutes a part of the act of murder or is post offence conduct."

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Con...d+wife+death+after+stabbed/6447673/story.html

Earlier: Video of dying woman shocked investigators

In a re-enactment video of the fatal stabbing played in court Thursday, the accused killer told Acting Staff Sgt. Rick Tuza he panicked on the morning of Aug. 3, 2008.

"I made a video, I'm flipping out because of what I'd seen and what I did that I felt, you know, I couldn't fix this," Martel told the officer.

"I was going to do something to myself . . . leave the video camera running. I chickened out, didn't do anything to myself."
[...]

Martel made a two-minute video of the victim on his cellphone starting at 3:07 a.m. as she lay moaning on the bed of his northeast condo, with the camera zooming in to a gaping wound in her chest.

During the video, played in court while Tuza was on the stand being questioned by co-Crown prosecutor Gord Wong, Martel does not sound distraught nor impaired by drugs or alcohol.

He made several comments, including "Look at that wound you got there ... straight to the sternum. Right on."

Only moments later, he is heard saying, "Good that I said I love you . . . Oh, this sucks . . . I'll be there soon enough with you, baby girl."

A city police technology crimes analyst who recovered the deleted video from Martel's cellphone was horrified when he first viewed it.

"What I've seen in my 15 years of policing, this is probably the worst content that I've had to experience," testified Const. Shafik Punja.

"I worked in child pornography for over a year. . . .

"I saw a female laying on a bed that was struggling to breathe. I could see bruising on that victim, as well as what looked like a wound on the chest cavity area."
[...]

Police seized Martel's cellphone after he called 911, nearly two hours after the video was taken. Punja recovered the video three days later.

He testified the owner of the phone could not have retrieved the deleted video without the software. It was stored in a temporary folder for deleted items.

During the two-hour interval between the video recording and calling 911, Martel hid the knife and clothing in the attic of his home.

He led Tuza to the items, covered in the victim's blood, during the reenactment on Sept. 30, 2008, the day after he was arrested.
[...]

Earlier, court heard Martel and Rae had been in a tumultuous relationship for more than four years. Rae, who wanted out, had been dating other men.

On the night of Aug. 2, 2008, the couple had gone with friends to the Back Alley nightclub and were heard arguing before going home.
[...]

Martel's best friend, Jason Bobak, testified he invited Martel to have dinner with him on the evening of Sept. 29, 2008, at the request of Tuza, to audio tape their conversation.

Martel told him during the conversation the stabbing was an accident when she pulled the knife on him.

"I brought up the conversation, saying I'd read and heard things, and I wanted to know for myself what really happened that night," Bobak testified.

"I asked him if it was an accident. He said, 'How could an accident like that happen?' You couldn't accidentally get stabbed. You can accidentally get shot when hunting, but not stabbed.' "

Bobak said police arrested Martel following the four-hour dinner with his friend.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/V...intended+also+kill+himself/6447956/story.html

 

[Aena]

My daughter's name is Sarah Nicole, I got a chill when I read the victims name. I am glad this idiot recorded his crime, if only every criminal was that stupid.

 

[Chippy]

The description of what's in the video is the most sickening part of this story. I was best friends with a really good friend of Sarah's.. I remember her being pretty shook up about it. I think I even met Sarah once when I was still in highschool.
Anyhoo, this thread is how I found these forums. Had a look around and decided to join. Glad to see there are some members from my neck of the woods.

 

[Brillig]

Welcome, @Chippy!

 

[Keepalowprofile]

The description of what's in the video is the most sickening part of this story. I was best friends with a really good friend of Sarah's.. I remember her being pretty shook up about it. I think I even met Sarah once when I was still in highschool.
Anyhoo, this thread is how I found these forums. Had a look around and decided to join. Glad to see there are some members from my neck of the woods.

Welcome, Chippy.

 

[Babs]

Hello and welcome!

 

[myra manes]

The description of what's in the video is the most sickening part of this story. I was best friends with a really good friend of Sarah's.. I remember her being pretty shook up about it. I think I even met Sarah once when I was still in highschool.
Anyhoo, this thread is how I found these forums. Had a look around and decided to join. Glad to see there are some members from my neck of the woods.

Welcome ..

 

[Sevens My Charm]

Welcome to the deviant den

 

[Sejanus]

The description of what's in the video is the most sickening part of this story. I was best friends with a really good friend of Sarah's.. I remember her being pretty shook up about it. I think I even met Sarah once when I was still in highschool.
Anyhoo, this thread is how I found these forums. Had a look around and decided to join. Glad to see there are some members from my neck of the woods.

I used to live just south of Lindsey Park near the Stampede grounds in the mid 80's