Warning: This article contains details that may be disturbing and triggering to readers. The Crown presented forensic evidence to a Barrie jury in the trial of Gabriel DiCecco, who is accused of first-degree murder and committing an indignity to a dead body, in the Jan. 2024 killing of his best friend William Schernhammer. DiCecco, 27, sat in the prisoner’s box as the Crown presented forensic evidence that included testimony about the gun the prosecution believes was used to shoot Schernhammer. One witness told the court a shot gun found at DiCecco’s home matched the type of weapon that could have been used to fire several pellets that were recovered from inside Schernhammer. The witness testified the pellet shell sizes and their materials are commonly used and matched holes left inside the passenger door of DiCecco’s Hyundai Santa Fe. Schernhammer’s body was found nine days after he was reported missing by loved ones who said Schernhammer, 24, had gone out with his friend DiCecco to buy cigarettes on the night of Jan. 12, 2024. Surveillance videos captured Schernhammer’s travels the night of his disappearance and death. DiCecco is accused of dumping Schernhammer’s body along the 25th side road near Alliston. He told police during an interview around the time of his arrest that Schernhammer was urinating when a masked stranger approached from a field and shot Schernhammer at least three times. DiCecco told police he grabbed his friend and loaded him into the Sante Fe before leaving Schernhammer in a ditch. Defence lawyer Sam Goldstein suggested to another witness, a forensic scientist who testified about a DNA swab collected from Schernhammer’s body, was a product of Schernhammer’s arousal. The defence suggested the bodily fluid explained why Schernhammer was found with his pants down around his ankles. DiCecco told police during one of several interviews with investigators, Schernhammer sexually violated him eight years earlier. Police did not charge Schernhammer and concluded the allegations were unfounded. DiCecco claimed police did not conduct a full investigation into what he says happened to him in 2016. The trial is scheduled for another week and is expected to continue tomorrow with further Crown witness testimony.
