Little light was shed during a trial Tuesday on why a man accused of first-degree murder chopped off the victim’s head in the process of disposing of his body.
James David Junior Charlie faces the count in the January 2012 death of Fribjon Bjornson. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge but has pleaded guilty to one count of indignity to a dead body.
In a video undercover officers recorded in October 2013,and played to a jury at the courthouse, a soft-spoken Charlie provided only a brief answer as he sat in the back of a vehicle parked at a Prince George mall.
“I don’t know, I just chopped his f--g head off,” Charlie said.
A missing person report had turned into a murder investigation in February 2012 when acting on a tip, police found Bjornson’s head wrapped in a blanket and left in an abandoned house on the Nak’azdli Reserve just south of Fort St. James.
According to an agreed statement of facts read into the record at the start of the trial, Bjornson had gone to a home on the reserve to buy drugs on the day of his murder.
In June 2013, police launched a so-called “Mr. Big” investigation in which officers posing as members of an organized crime group work to elicit a confession under the pretense of helping to cover up the crime.
It typically culminates in an interview with the “crime boss” where the suspect is told he can join the organization, but only if he tells everything he knows about the crime under investigation to the crime boss who can “clean things up.”
They had targeted co-accused Jessie Bird who, in turn, had talked Charlie into meeting with the group.
Following on Charlie’s answer, one of the officers said what he did was “crazy shit” and that he be put to use because he’s capable of the act.
“I know you can do that type of thing,” he told Charlie.
When asked, Charlie said he did not remember what he had done with the axe he had used. A splitting maul with Bjornson’s DNA on it was also found at the house.
Shortly afterwards, two of the officers exited the vehicle, leaving Charlie alone with a third. They talked about who he suspected may have tipped off police about the location of Bjornson’s head.
Charlie provided two names and was advised to stay away from them and to keep quiet. When the others returned, the officer who quizzed Charlie about the head in the first place advised that he “wasn’t up here to put a bullet in someone’s head” but rather to “clean it up.”
He also got Charlie’s word that he would leave the two alone.
Later Tuesday, the jury was shown a video of Bird leading officers to a log jam following a short boat trip up the Necoslie River to where he said Bjornson’s body had been hidden. A piece of denim was found at the scene, the court was told.
The trial continues Thursday.
