The Goforths leave court on Tuesday. Photo by Manfred Joehnck
WARNING: This article contains graphic details that may disturb some readers
A boy who visited his cousins at the home of Tammy and Kevin Goforth testified against the Regina couple at their murder trial on Tuesday.
The Goforths are on trial for the murder of a four-year-old girl and causing bodily harm to her two-year-old sister in 2012.
The boy is now 14 and he was 12 at the time. He told the trial he met the girls at the Goforth home a couple of times in 2011 when he stayed over at the weekend to play with his older cousins.
He told the trial the trial he saw Tammy Goforth tape the hands of the four year old girl to a basement wall. He says it happened in the corner of the basement in an area where there was some “poop” on the floor.
He said that when he was there, the girls were locked in a room. He also says he never saw them eat.
Defence lawyer, Geoff Deagle challenged his testimony. He says “you could not have seen the girls if there were locked in room.”
Deagle added, “you have been told what to say here, haven’t you?”
The boy replied, “no” and insisted he had seen the girls.
The prosecution is getting close to wrapping up its case. It has only one more witness to call, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on the four-year-old girl.
The defense has indicated it plans to call both Tammy and Kevin to the witness stand to testify their own defence. They could be on the stand later this week.
They were arrested in August of 2012 after both girls were rushed to hospital suffering extreme emaciation and dehydration.
Both girls were also covered in bruises, open wounds, and scrapes. The four-year-old had no pulse or breathing. She was kept on life support for a couple of days but was taken off after doctors declared her brain dead.
The two year old recovered. Earlier, a paediatrician who treated the two-year-old told the trial the little girl did not have any underlying medical conditions that would have caused her to suffer the severe malnutrition she experienced.
The girls were described as skin over wasted muscle and bones.