WINNIPEG - A jury in Winnipeg has been warned to prepare for "depressing and even enraging" evidence in the murder trial of Samantha Kematch and Karl McKay.
The pair are accused of first-degree murder in the death of Kematch's daughter, five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair.
In his opening statement, Crown attorney Rick Saull told the jury that evidence over the next six weeks will show that Phoenix died as the result of months of abuse.
Saull says the girl was left to die on the family's cold basement floor.
Sinclair had spent much of her life in foster care, and police believe she was dead for several months before anyone reported her missing.
The case prompted a review of Manitoba's child welfare system.
What is expected to be a lengthy and heart-wrenching trial starts today in a Winnipeg courtroom.
Samantha Kematch and her former boyfriend Karl McKay are accused of abusing and killing Kematch's young daughter Phoenix Sinclair.
The five-year-old girl's remains were found in a shallow grave on the Fisher River reserve in March 2006.
She had spent much of her life in foster care and police believe she had been dead for months before anyone reported her missing.
Her death prompted a government review of Manitoba's foster-care system, because she had been returned to her mother and her case file had been closed shortly before she died.
The trial is scheduled to last six weeks and several dozen witnesses are expected to testify.
