An exotic dancer, one of the key witnesses in the murder trial of Ottawa resident Carson Morin, took the stand today. She was in the home the day that 20-year-old Michael Wassill was slashed in the throat in May of 2013. The young woman's name is protected under a publication ban. Her story, her world, is one most of us can't imagine. A world she left the day, she says, her best friend was murdered.
Nearly four years after that fateful encounter inside this Orleans home, a jury is learning about just what happened that day and how Wassill, who lived in that Orleans home, ended up dead.
The young woman testifying had worked in the Nu Den strip club on St Laurent Boulevard in the weeks leading up to the murder. She told court it was an arrangement she worked out by Carson Morin.
She had worked at a minimum wage job before that, trying to support herself. This gave her better money, working as an exotic dancer and selling drugs on the side. All that ended, she says, the day Michael Wassill was killed.
“It turned my world upside down,” she told court, “I looked for a good steady job and put my life back together.”
The woman had known Wassill for years and considered him her best friend, even staying at his house briefly before moving in with the accused, 24-year-old Carson Morin
Morin has been charged with first degree murder. The Crown’s contention is that Morin was furious that she wanted out of the business, ending his financial arrangement.
Court has heard the Morin had a strip pole set up in his condo so this young woman could practice. That she was attracted to him and moved in with him shortly after they met in April of 2013. And that she moved back in with Michael Wassill just days before the murder on May 15, 2013.
Court also heard from another of Michael Wassill's friends who also knew this young stripper. Jade de Cioccio testified that both she and Wassill were concerned about this young woman and wanted her to get away from Morin because, she says, “he was crazy.”
When asked what kind of person Wassill was, she started crying and said:
“He was good hearted and intelligent. One of the most amazing people anyone could ever meet.”
This trial has just gotten underway nearly four years after the murder. Morin has pleaded not guilty. It's expected to last 8 weeks.
