Evidence seized from digital devices presented at Saint John murder trial

The Crown wrapped up its case in a Saint John double-murder trial on Wednesday.

The trial of man in charged with murdering two boys last year in Saint John, N.B., focused on evidence seized from five electronic devices on Wednesday.

Roman Kamyshnyy is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of a 10-year-old boy and 17-year-old boy on Jan. 29, 2005 at 7:08 a.m. inside a Saint John apartment.

Kamyshnyy has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Crown’s only witness on Wednesday was Robert Faulkner, an examiner with the RCMP Digital Forensic Service.

The day was spent going over several pictures, e-mails, videos, text messages and screenshots found on devices, including three cellphones, a laptop and a tablet.

Faulkner testified he had reached the conclusion that all five devices belonged to Kamyshnyy.

Prosecutors asked Faulkner to validate the timeline of evidence presented from the devices, and the 14 jurors had binders of the images, e-mails and text messages in front of them. Draft messages were also included as Crown evidence.

Jurors were shown a video in court allegedly sent by Kamyshnny the morning the two boys were killed, featuring the accused speaking in Russian directly into the camera.

English subtitles on the video, sent on Jan. 29 at 7:08 a.m., feature Kamyshnyy saying that if anybody hears anything bad about him in the near future, “then it’s most likely true.”

Several e-mails and texts included as evidence are written in Russian.

Faulkner was questioned about a timestamp on an e-mail allegedly sent from the accused to his workplace that arrived at 1 p.m. on Jan. 29, hours after the two boys were found dead by Saint John Police.

The e-mail addressed from Kamyshnyy’s G-mail account said he was no longer able to work “due to serious family issues.”

Faulkner said it’s possible for e-mails to have a delayed send time if it’s scheduled to arrive at a later time, or if the device regains a lost connection.

Faulkner also said the laptop web browser history showed the website for Home Depot had been visited in the days leading up to the two boys being killed.

On Monday, Saint John Police Det. Const. Scott Prentice told the court he was assigned to track down where the accused purchased a nail gun that prosecutors say he tried to kill himself with on the morning of Jan. 29.

Prentice said he tracked the purchase as being made at the Home Depot location in Saint John on Jan. 25.

The defence had no questions for Faulkner on Wednesday.

A court ordered publication ban prevents any information from being shared that could identify the two victims. Another court ruling has allowed media to report that this case is connected to alleged domestic violence.

Court will resume on Thursday.

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