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00:13The point of a trial is that the crown lay before a jury, an allegation. And that allegation,
00:21in this case, is murder.
00:45In summer of 23, Claire met Aaron Pearson, but we never met him.
00:49Claire didn't tell me that she was seeing this guy until she was already in Scotland.
00:56It all happened so quick, and I thought everything was fine.
01:01Did she tell you about any injuries or anything?
01:04Nothing at all. Otherwise, maybe this wouldn't have happened.
01:07My job is to prove to the jury Aaron Pearson killed Claire Levesque.
01:13Mr. Levesque, we have some records which suggest there was a telephone call with Aaron Pearson that day.
01:18Don't remember it.
01:20There is no onus on an accused person to disprove the case.
01:25I've got no more questions, thank you.
01:28The Crown have to prove the case.
01:31This is just a horror story from the beginning.
01:35I came here, I left everything behind for you. Why would you pick me?
01:38You're lucky I didn't see how you're f***ing dead, okay?
01:41Him trying to walk out of the courtroom was just unbelievable.
01:46The body map shows severe and significant injuries.
01:50Could any of these injuries have been self-inflicted?
01:53Could they in principle have been self-inflicted? Yes.
01:59All that I'm endeavouring to do is ask questions of which may raise doubt in the minds of the jury.
02:06Mr. Pearson is to give evidence.
02:08As jurors, you must not be swayed by any emotional consideration which you might have.
02:13Every accused is presumed innocent until proved guilty.
02:17The Crown must establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
02:24The Crown must be feeling guilty when youdamned us one of Coses.
02:49The Flame, apart from the palace.
02:53we had flown into the Shetland Islands then we drove up to sadness it was important so that we
03:01could see the things she loved and and the places that she had sent pictures of so we could feel
03:11like a connection to her there I think I needed to go there but most of all to see and
03:20where she lived
03:22and what she was doing there you know you picture like somewhere remote but like this is
03:32literally in the middle of nowhere it just makes me feel sick to my stomach
03:43walking up to the house with Clint it felt heavy I looked in there and I could see her where
03:52she
03:52thought it hurt
04:16so
04:22so
04:24so
04:26so
04:28so
04:51good morning everyone
04:58you'll remember that on Friday the advocate deputy closed the crown case Mr. Patterson good morning
05:04there was a body of evidence led by the crown and thereafter Mr. Pearson has the opportunity
05:12to either give evidence or not give evidence we had heard that there was a chance that the accused
05:20might take the stand of course you are innocent until you're proven guilty he's got every day to not
05:27take the time to take the time but thank you good morning Mr. Pearson is to give evidence my lord
05:37thank you very much thank you very much would you please come forward Mr. Pearson
05:42I guess he has to provide an explanation as to how Claire Levesque came to sustain 26 stab wounds
05:54there are pros and there are pros and there are cons the pros are the accused person may well be
05:59believed
06:00by the jury
06:01and the result of that would be an acquittal
06:04the cons are of course that the accused person is then a witness
06:08they'll be asked questions which could be awkward for them and the case will be put to them
06:17I want to hear what he has to say because I don't think any of that's going to make sense
06:23Mr. Pearson yes do you accept that you were ever abusive towards Claire
06:34well yes and no there were times where we drank just far too much and we were abusive to one
06:41another
06:42we got along great when we were sober everything was was really good it was I did love her I
06:48did
06:49still do did you ever threaten that you would kill her no
06:56this is a challenging case because of the evidence of course there was a 999 call that was made
07:03there was an admission by Mr. Pearson but the issue that was
07:11pertinent in relation to the whole case is what happened before the 999 call was made
07:17that is the issue in the trial
07:21Mr. Pearson I'm going to move on and ask you about the day that Claire Levesque died
07:28we've seen some CCTV of the two of you in your car driving to various places yes now there was
07:40a bottle of liquor
07:42you bought that and you took it back to the shed correct yes so as the afternoon progressed
07:54what happened she was in the shed with me and I could tell by the tone in her voice that
07:59she was
07:59already really drunk did you say anything to her I remember requesting that she go to bed
08:06then she said the words fuck you to me what happened the next time you saw Claire I was in
08:14the shed
08:15she had come through the door furious with me physically swinging at me I believe I just finished
08:22speaking with her father about sending her back I believe I offered him some money I told him that I
08:29had already booked the flights she was really really really upset with me she had heard me speaking to
08:37um so when she came in what happened next she she literally punched my top plate denture right out of
08:47my mouth what happened then she went over to pee in that in the that garbage can that I
08:54had used earlier to bail the uh the water out of the tub um she was really drunk and I
09:03was telling her
09:04everything she wanted to hear because she had obviously heard me speaking with her dad she was
09:09furious Aaron claims that Claire overhears a conversation between Aaron and her dad and in that conversation
09:25it said that Aaron is going to take Claire back home to Canada he's going to go with her because
09:32she
09:32can't live here anymore because of the dreadful alcoholic that he claims that she is what happened
09:39then next thing I knew I heard her kind of cough and kind of choke and then fall but with
09:47a bottle a
09:48great bottle of great fluid to her mouth she appeared to have drunk it she had also fallen over on
09:55the
09:55floor and she was rolling around in her own in her own urine there was a struggle on the ground
10:01she kind of got me in the stomach with her elbow at which point she did a really really epic
10:06um face
10:08plant on the arm of the couch there's an old black handle knife that basically it lived in the garage
10:14all
10:14the time um she grabbed the knife and then and then she kind of did like a 180 put the
10:23knife in her right
10:23hand and landed in the water
10:31give me one second please
10:36my opinion on his defense during this trial is it's a farce it's just absolute ridiculousness
10:46she then looked at me looked at the knife and stuck it in her stomach
11:13she then looked at me looked at the knife and stuck it in her stomach
11:22she started screaming and she repeated to puncture herself here I believe like this
11:32how many times did she stab herself when she was in the hot tub well I uh I would say
11:37four or five
11:39do you have any recollection of being in the hot tub with Claire no did you um take the phone
11:46from
11:46your mother and speak to the police no recollection of that whatsoever no I don't do you have any
11:52recollection of saying horrible things and nasty unpleasant things to police officers no no I don't
11:59no I don't I remember being restrained I remember bits and pieces of being in the hospital I do not
12:11remember speaking in the 999 call
12:18I don't know what happened
12:23Mr Pearson I have no more questions
12:31his evidence was quite simple actually
12:33and I suppose to put it to still it down that was Claire Levesque drinking too much and then
12:40confronting him and then causing herself injuries and thereafter his recollection of events
12:47was very limited
12:49I have a good deputy I expect you have questions for the witness
12:53thank you good afternoon Mr Pearson good afternoon in cross-examining Aaron Pearson I want to show the
13:05inconsistencies in his evidence from the first statement that he made to his mother that he'd
13:11hurt Claire to the position he adopted at police interview that he couldn't remember because he was
13:17in shock now we've heard evidence during this trial that on the 11th of February Claire Levesque died and her
13:26cause of death was stab wounds of the neck and chest wasn't it yes ma'am and you inflicted those
13:37stab wounds
13:38didn't you Mr Pearson not that I recall ma'am and she tried to defend herself when you were
13:44assaulting her didn't she once again I do not remember do you remember the photographs Mr Pearson
13:53ma'am I do remember the photographs but I don't remember doing anything like that
13:58and that wasn't the first time you had hurt Claire was it the crown case is not that Aaron Pearson
14:06suddenly out of the blue decided to assault Claire Levesque on the 11th of February of 2024
14:12the crown case is that what happened is in effect the culmination of a number of months of domestically
14:19abusive behavior
14:22we heard the recording that was recorded on the 12th of December of 2023 Claire Levesque says to you you
14:29beat the out of me on my 24th birthday I see that yes and you tell her that was the
14:35second time
14:36that was the second time we had a significant argument no so you don't deny beating her up you
14:41accept that you beat her up on the 24th of November is that right so reciprocated yes
14:46so by reciprocated do you mean you hit her after being punched in the head several times yes
14:51Mr Pearson ma'am this is Mr Pearson okay so my apologies my apologies the question was did you hit
14:57her yes
14:58yes yes I did
15:07she's just ear to ear grinning I love this one at the beach she was eating like a pile of
15:14sand and
15:15then later she's spitting it out
15:22Claire was a very prominent part of my life growing up and through later years of her life
15:30we spent her whole childhood together
15:42in late November I received some messages from Claire
15:48that kind of changed the story about the safety of where she was
15:53she said that she had been abused by Erin Pearson
15:59upon hearing that I grew very worried and very concerned about her well-being
16:04I was telling her like if it happens once it's going to happen again you got to get out of
16:08this
16:08situation you got to get out of here I started implementing a plan to come pick her up to get
16:15Claire home and get her out of this relationship safely but the next day she said that everything was fine
16:23that everything was okay and that everything was worked out but my gut though I just knew something
16:29wasn't right I was gonna come pick her up
16:37if I would have just came a little bit sooner
16:42I'd miss her a lot
16:53you told your mum on the 11th of February of 2024 that you had hurt Claire didn't you
17:00according to my mum yes
17:04that was after you had returned to the house after driving your car into the sea wasn't it according
17:12to my mum yes
17:17the crown case is that after Aaron Pearson had either killed Claire Levesque or injured her so badly that
17:24he thought that he had killed her he drove his car into the sea at a point very close by
17:30to the house in Sanis
17:38Aaron had already got quite a reputation for his fast driving across the island
17:51he had a very fancy silver Porsche he drove it everywhere he set up a YouTube channel
18:03and Claire you would buy into that wouldn't you this is a wealthy man he's got a Porsche
18:13and I also heard that the reason he had the Porsche
18:16was that he was buying and selling drugs on that island but nothing was ever proven
18:28how long would it take you to drive from the house to the point where we saw the tire tracks
18:35going off
18:36onto the grass and then into the sea in a hypothetical scenario because once again I can't remember doing
18:42it but in a hypothetical scenario it could be seconds to a minute maybe
19:00now I don't know why Aaron Pearson drove his car into the sea that's for him to explain but it
19:07adds to
19:07our timeline because having visited the island I know that that beach is only a very short drive from the
19:14house
19:17so if you drove into the sea swam to the shore and then walk back you could probably do all
19:24of
19:24that in about 15 minutes maybe 10 minutes would that be fair to say it would be fair to say
19:30that
19:34he is seen walking back from the beach area at about quarter to five in the evening
19:41I just thought that it was weird that that he was just walking back to the house that to me
19:50was extremely weird
19:55again that's a key marker in the timeline because it's shortly after that that we have the 999 call
20:02made by Janet Pearson
20:04well she's bleeding and dying in a hot tub
20:11why did you drive your car into the sea again I can't remember doing that
20:16so did you do that after you had stabbed Claire Levesque multiple times Mr Pearson I did not stab
20:23Claire multiple times to my knowledge and you inflicted superficial wounds to your neck
20:30according to the photograph and my mum you told the 999 operator that you killed her because she drank
20:39too much and acted like an idiot and she pissed you off yeah that's that that was me but once
20:47again
20:47I can't remember saying it well the question isn't about what you remember Mr Pearson I'm just making
20:52myself clear I didn't want you to twist my words you assaulted her by stabbing her 26 times Mr Pearson
21:02how many times do I need to repeat myself ma'am
21:07it was such a violent assault that it left a piece of the knife embedded in her skull and you
21:12did that
21:13didn't you that's what the evidence is saying I suppose it was just the constant I don't know I don't
21:22know ma'am like I don't know it it was like why did you even take the stand
21:38so crown production 87 is the transcript of the interview that was conducted on the 13th of
21:44February of 2024 at Lowick police office and the top of page three police officer says okay you know
21:52she's obviously passed away and you say yeah I've been hearing it in here yeah one of the officers told
21:59me in there yeah so are you saying that it wasn't until you were interviewed by police on the 13th
22:05of
22:05February that you knew that Claire had died that's correct you took a video of yourself sitting in the
22:12hot tub with Claire in the hot tub didn't you I highly doubt that
22:33so
22:38Aaron Pearson says he can't remember what happened after he said Claire stabbed herself but there was a video
22:46that he had recorded himself and I want to use that to again point out an inconsistency in his account
22:57he was in the hot tub with Claire still when the police showed up
23:05my lord I wish to play that particular piece of video just 15 seconds and if you can listen
23:10carefully to it as well mr. Pearson sure okay
23:19come on in
23:31now that's your voice isn't it mr. Pearson yeah we see a hand there mr. Pearson and that's Claire
23:38Levesque in the hot tub with you I'm not sure I don't I don't I don't see so you're in
23:46the hole I
23:46can't confirm because like I said I don't
23:50I don't know mr. Pearson I can show the footage that shows her face I'm loathe to do that please
23:55don't please don't that I can't
23:58if you're required to do it advocate deputy then you proceed as you see fit thank you
24:02if we can again I warn those who are in the cause no please don't show the face of the
24:08deceased very briefly
24:10I'm conscious that these kinds of images are very distressing and while it's something that I don't
24:18choose to do lightly if it's an important piece of evidence I will have to show that piece of evidence
24:26I'm not looking at it I didn't even recognize her she was so pale and you I didn't recognize her
24:38face it was just
24:41it was awful I wasn't expecting that at all
24:47there is an audible intake of breath when we're shown clear in the hot tub the jury have their head
24:56in their hands there some of them are crying can we just stop that there thank you
25:04I can only imagine how tough it is for the officers
25:11somebody is so so severely injured and somebody's just confessed to actually killing them on the phone
25:18while they're actively driving to this call
25:25we obviously saw it just there when we were at the house and but you just don't think about it
25:31at the
25:31time the only time I really thought about things was when I saw a picture of Claire in the local
25:38press
25:39and it was just a shock because you're just seeing a young lass like a pretty young lass and that's
25:46not the person that I saw in the garage
25:52now we saw the face of Claire Levesque in that video Mr Pearson okay you took that video didn't you
26:02I'm assuming so and yet you wish to maintain that you did
26:06not know that Claire was dead when the police interviewed you two days later
26:12I maintain that ma'am
26:14you were angry you were shouting and swearing at the police when Claire was lying dead in that
26:21hot tub weren't you Mr Pearson
26:23yes in that video yeah
26:25you murdered Claire Levesque didn't you
26:28as far as I remember no ma'am no further questions thank you mum
26:37he couldn't explain what he had done that day so he was now
26:40making up a story and in doing so he was further abusing Claire
27:00members of the jury we're now ready to proceed to the next phase of the trial in which council will
27:04be
27:04addressing you directly from the lectern please feel free to continue to take whatever notes
27:08you think will assist you in your deliberations
27:15the jury has a lot to consider i have to be able to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that aaron
27:21Pearson not only killed Claire Levesque but that he murdered her that's a slightly different test
27:29i now invite the advocate deputy to address you for the crown advocate deputy
27:34thank you my lord good morning members of the jury you're gonna kill me
27:44that is what claire levesque said to the accused aaron pearson on the 12th of december of 2023
27:53just two short months later aaron pearson said to a 999 call operator my name is aaron pearson
28:04i've just killed my girlfriend in the hot tub in the garage at ringville the annex sanis
28:12he went on to describe how he had definitely killed her
28:16to make sure i drowned her after i stabbed her several times and beat her the fuck up really badly
28:30obviously what was said in that 999 call was a very significant piece of evidence in the trial
28:37there's no getting away from that now of course mr pearson explained that he couldn't recollect
28:44that 999 call and that was his position he adopted this is a very tragic set of events
28:54but what you can't do members of the jury is to bring emotions into your decision making
29:01in scotland the level or standard of proof is proof beyond a reasonable doubt and what i
29:10say to almost every jury that i speak to is this if you were to pause or hesitate in relation
29:19to
29:20an allegation that pause that hesitation our law says is a reasonable doubt
29:29your duty is then to acquit
29:35when claire says to aaron pearson you beat the out of me on my 24th birthday
29:39his response was not a denial no what he said was that was the second time
29:46he also appears to blame claire for him hitting her does that sound familiar because on the evidence we
29:54heard yesterday and today aaron pearson appears to blame claire levec for inflicting the stab wounds on
30:01herself the suggestion made by the crown to mr pearson was that his testimony was fabricated and
30:08uh not true uh not true but i suppose my function is to look at the evidence and try and
30:14say well
30:16this these are the aspects which support him
30:21i'm asking you to bring your common sense to this if he's just going to come up with a fabricated
30:25total
30:26nonsense of a story why don't i just say she did it everything to herself because he's not said that
30:34he said he's got no memory he said he saw inflicting wounds to herself there being blood and then no
30:42memory
30:43it may be members of the jury come to the view that perhaps she had had too much to drink
30:50perhaps she
30:52was drunk the pathologist told you it's entirely unrealistic to suggest claire levec inflicted those
31:03stab wounds on herself it didn't seem to suggest that they couldn't have happened and it may be members
31:11of the jury that you're left thinking well really where were we are where are we with that evidence
31:17this is what his whole life is riding on suicide claire killing herself and doing this to herself
31:25i thought it was a joke the evidence tells you members of the jury aaron pearson murdered claire
31:32if he's gonna lie you know you might think of a big lie
31:40but if he's telling the truth members of jury you ought to acquit him
31:53so members of the jury you've now heard all the evidence in this case for the crown to prove the
31:58crime of murder you would have to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the accused aaron pearson
32:04killed claire levec on 11th of february 2024 the starting point of the crown case is what the
32:11advocate deputy characterized as the admission evidence featuring in the 999 call which the
32:16advocate deputy described as a remarkably accurate account of events the advocate deputy also referred
32:22you to the hot tub video and to further comments made by the accused to police witnesses the advocate
32:28deputy deputy submitted that corroboration for this evidence could be and was located in the evidence
32:33of dr ainsworth on the sites a number of injuries the force required to inflict them and the issue of
32:40self-infliction mr patterson advanced the following submissions dr ainsworth testimony did not go to
32:48that point of suggesting that self-infliction was utterly impossible or could not have happened
32:54and you may be left wondering mr patterson observed where dr ainsworth's opinion takes you as a jury
33:01when you look at the whole evidence and the support for mr pearson's account in particular in the
33:06messages you may come to the view that the crown has failed to prove that mr pearson is guilty on
33:13murder
33:16you are the judges of the facts and you decide what's been proved and what hasn't
33:21it's all a matter for you
33:30whenever a jury goes out to consider their verdict i can't second guess what that verdict will be
33:35and it is very nerve-wracking
33:41i'm wondering have the crown done enough here
33:46some juries can be quick some can be slow some could take five minutes some can take five hours or
33:53five days you don't know what's going on in the jury deliberation room what are the arguments other
33:58people are making did something stick out to them that didn't stick out to me
34:07mr pearson has explained his uh position so it's over to the jury to decide whether or not the crown
34:13have proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt which a very high standard very high standard in the high
34:19court of justiciary in court number one this is a verdict
34:31of the seven original charges only two remain
34:36charge two the charge of domestic abuse over a prolonged period of time
34:41and charge number four of course murder
34:55i hope that having done my job properly i've given them sufficient evidence that they can rely on
35:01the jury verdict but the jury verdict is a jury verdict
35:17good afternoon thank you
35:26members of the jury will your spokesperson please stand up
35:32thank you have you reached your verdict yes what is your verdict in respect of aaron bylock pearson
35:40on charge two on the indictment guilty is that a unanimous or a majority decision unanimous
36:03members of the jury thank you for your attention
36:09i had no doubt in my mind there was going to be anybody on his side
36:16of course he did it there is no defense aaron violet pearson that you have today on the unanimous
36:24verdict of the jury been convicted of a crime of exceptional depravity namely the murder of miss
36:30claire levec your own evidence was in my view an exercise from start to finish in victim blaming
36:36this malicious vindictive and wholly fabricated account suggests certainly to me that you have sought to
36:41continue to humiliate your victim after her death even in this courtroom in the presence of her grieving family
36:59you stole my little girl my best friend my life
37:03i will not get to hug my daughter again to see her smile or hear her laugh there's claire and
37:12her daddy
37:13you stole the children she would have had i will never get to be a grandpa to her babies
37:19you stole my life i am not happy like i once was in fact i feel guilty when i feel
37:27any happiness
37:29her light is her light is gone her light is gone you stole claire's light i am not a hateful
37:35man
37:36however i hate you absolutely i hate that you get to wake up each day and she will not i
37:45hate that you live
37:46and she does not you stole my little girl and yet you get to live how is that fair
37:57that's correct
38:00miss levec died a squalid death of quite unimaginable multi-faceted violence this was a sustained episode
38:08of feral butchery aaron pearson stand up on charge two you will serve a sentence of imprisonment of two
38:16years on charge four i now pass upon you on a concurrent basis a sentence of imprisonment for life
38:22i fixed the punishment part of this disposal at a period of 25 years that is all
38:35as he said 25 years i watched him tense like a ball and i just thought good good he deserves
38:45it he
38:45had no mercy he deserves none and that's how i feel
39:02i express my thanks to council
39:09i've known a few people who are murderers
39:13aaron pearson is the most cold-blooded murderer i have ever come across
39:29there's no chance of forgiveness there's these people don't belong in society
39:37there's no fixing this type
39:42it was important for me to find clint and jenny to see how they were
39:49it's clearly an emotional time for them and it was also a very emotional meeting
39:55i gave her a hug because she did such a good job she was good she was our voice she
40:03was our fight
40:06i can't imagine what it was like for clint and jenny and claire's family to sit through the evidence
40:14it was harrowing at times it was graphic at times but they showed remarkable strength and
40:19dignity in sitting through that evidence
40:36today we were able to get justice for claire and hopefully start a new path and helping other
40:43victims suffering from domestic violence and being able to move forward and come forward
40:49claire was so isolated in shetland but she was such a phenomenal person
41:11oh there's there's a woodpecker but claire and i like uh we'd meet up after work
41:19she was always up for a good walk all these trails have memories of our conversations
41:29claire was out in shetland
41:31all alone and so far away from everybody who loved and cared about her
41:39but i didn't think i was gonna get a call saying she was killed
41:48although i don't see her on those trails anymore i feel her presence it's a tough couple weeks
41:57so much i miss her so much i miss her so much
42:23we were able to go and spend some time on the beach that she loved
42:32where she was walking the dog
42:43it's nice to actually see it like be here i feel closer
42:51and we were lucky enough to be able to bring back some stones
42:56it's not much but just to have something from a place that she loved
43:05i remember my sister claire as a bright and bold really a one-of-a-kind soul
43:15i want her to be remembered for the beautiful girl that she was
43:23she'll forever be in my heart
43:32me hope william
43:37that's for them
43:42my daughter was being abused and now i see it
43:49every day i miss her every day
43:54every day
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