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Jury finds Michael Durant guilty of killing
two women
By Alison Langley - Niagara Falls Review
Friday, November 29, 2012
The families of Cassey Cichocki
and Diane Dimitri gasped then broke into applause after a jury
foreperson stood in court and announced Michael Durant was guilty
of two counts of first-degree murder.
The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated for
almost 65 hours over seven days before reaching a verdict
Wednesday afternoon.
Durant, dressed in a wrinkled green dress shirt
and black dress pants, showed no emotion as the verdict was read.
Justice James Ramsay sentenced the 39-year-old
Niagara Falls man to life in prison with no possibility of parole
for 25 years.
Outside the court house, friends and families
of the murdered women rejoiced.
“Guilty! Guilty!” one man yelled as he ran up
and down the sidewalk in front of Welland Superior Court.
Wilma Kyle, Cichocki’s stepmother, was overcome
with emotion.
“The past seven days have been torture,” she
said. “We have been on pins and needles. We were just praying.”
She said she was grateful the jury looked
beyond the fact that the murdered women were involved in the sex
trade to fuel a drug addiction.
“They looked at these girls as human beings.
They looked at them as our daughters.”
Kyriacos Kyriacou, Dimitri’s step-father added:
“This has been a long time coming. This has been a roller-coaster
ride.”
While nothing can bring back his stepdaughter,
Kyriacou said the convictions can assist his family as they
continue to heal.
“There is no closure,” he said. “There will
never be closure. But at least this is something that proves our
system is working. We’re taking a bad human being off the streets
so he will not do it again to anybody else.”
Kyriacou, who is raising Dimitri’s children,
said he has been shielding them from media reports on the trial.
“I’ve been really keeping them away from the
core of all this,” he said. “They do know what’s going on and I’m
sure they will be very happy when I go home and tell them what
happened.”
Dimitri was 32 years old in 2003 when she went
to a party at Durant’s Toby Cr., home in Niagara Falls.
During the trial, jurors heard she was hit in
the head with a hammer. The murder weapon has never been found.
Dana Arnold, who was married to Durant at the
time, said she came home to find a badly injured Dimitri in their
home. She testified Durant made her drive to a rural area near the
boundary of Welland and Niagara Falls. That’s where her body was
dumped.
Durant’s lawyer Michael Lacy maintained Arnold
was a skilled liar who made up the story and that Dimitri’s killer
is her former boyfriend, a drug addict who later died of a drug
overdose.
Cichocki’s body was discovered in an isolated
area in the north end of Niagara Falls in 2006. She was 22.
Crown attorney David King contends Durant
incapacitated Cichocki in his Queen St. apartment, took her into
the basement and beat her to death. The young woman suffered more
than a dozen blows to the head.
Four drops of blood were found on the underside
of a staircase leading to the basement.
The Crown maintains Durant cleaned the area
with acid then applied a fresh coat of paint to the floors, top of
the stairs and parts of the walls.
Durant has been in custody since he was
arrested in 2006.
Michael Durant murder trial winding down
By Alison Langley - Niagara Falls Review
Monday, November 19, 2012
The ex-wife of accused killer Michael Durant is
a skilled liar who is incapable of telling the truth, Durant’s
lawyer said Monday.
“Her evidence is hardly worth the oxygen she
used to give it,” Michael Lacy said, referring to Dana Arnold’s
earlier testimony that Durant forced her to drive him and a badly
injured Diane Dimitri to a rural area where she said he dumped
Dimitri’s body in a ditch.
“To her the oath (to tell the truth) is
meaningless,” Lacy told the six-man, six-woman jury in Welland
Superior Court.
“It would be a miscarriage of justice if you
rely on what she has to say.”
Durant, 39, has pleaded not guilty to two
counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of
32-year-old Dimitri, whose body was found Aug. 9, 2003 in a ditch
in Welland near the Niagara Falls border and Cassey Cichocki, 22,
whose body was discovered near Whirlpool Rd. on Jan. 24, 2006.
In his closing address to the jury, Lacy poked
holes in Arnold’s version of what happened in August 2003.
Arnold had testified she never called the
police because she was in fear of Durant, who she said was
physically abusive towards her.
Lacy disputed her claim of being a battered
spouse, saying letters Arnold wrote to Durant in jail clearly
indicate she did not fear her ex-husband.
Lacy contends Dimitri’s boyfriend, a man who is
now deceased, attacked Dimitri in Durant’s Toby Cres. garage.
“He had motive and opportunity,” he said.
Also, Lacy said the case against his client in
relation to the Cichocki murder is entirely circumstantial.
“If you have reasonable doubt, the law requires
you to acquit Michael Durant,” he said.
While the Crown contends the young woman was
not seen alive after entering Durant’s Queen St. apartment on Dec.
5, 2006, Lacy said there is no evidence to support that fact.
Court heard earlier that Durant was eager to
provide police a sample of his DNA when he was arrested in
connection with Cichocki’s death.
At one point during a police interview, he
pulled out a handful of his hair and dropped it on a table in
front of a police officer.
Michael Durant was not afraid of what the tests
would show,” Lacy said.
Male DNA found on duct tape that was wrapped
around Cichocki’s neck did not belong to Durant.
Lacy said his client, who did not take the
stand in his own defence, has maintained his innocence since his
arrest in 2006.
“He had been consistent in his denial (of any
involvement in the murders). Consistency is often the mark of
truthfulness.”
The Crown will give its closing address to the
jury on Tuesday.
Durant jury shown graphic photos
By Alison Langley
- Niagara Falls Review
September 27, 2012
Dozens of photographs of Michael Durant’s Queen
St. apartment and a graphic photo of Cassey Cichocki, her neck
wrapped with duct tape, were shown to a jury Thursday.
One photo showed Cichocki’s body in a wooded
area off Whirlpool Rd., near Churchs Lane.
Her head and face are covered in blood and her
neck is wrapped with duct tape. Her body is draped in a bed sheet.
Michael Durant, 39, has pleaded not guilty in
Welland Superior Court to two counts of first-degree murder in
connection with the deaths of Cichocki, 22, and Diane Dimitri, 32.
The photographs submitted by Det. Const. Tracey
Rinaldo, a member of the Niagara Regional Police forensic services
unit, included shots of a car that had been leased by Durant’s
ex-wife as well as numerous photos taken in early 2006 of a
storefront apartment on Queen St. and the former Canadian Tire
store on Victoria Ave.
Rinaldo testified she spent approximately four
days processing the scene inside the apartment at 4670 Queen St.
The apartment was in a former store that had
been converted into a three-bedroom apartment.
Various construction materials, including paint
cans and tools, were found throughout the building.
Rinaldo also submitted photographs of the
former Canadian Tire store on Victoria Ave. There were mattresses
and beer bottles on the main floor and bed sheets in the basement.
Court was told the officer also sprayed the
trunk liner of Durant’s ex-wife’s former vehicle with a chemical
agent that reacts with blood to create a temporary fluorescent
effect.
Rinaldo said she received a “positive reaction”
from the spray but that positive reactions can arise from products
other than blood.
Court heard subsequent testing of the liner at
the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto did not yield any
positive results.
The trial continues Monday before Judge James
Ramsay.
Blunt force trauma to head, face killed
woman: Doctor
By Alison Langley
- Niagara Falls Review
September 25, 2012
Cassey Cichocki died from blunt force injuries
to her head and face, the pathologist who examined the 22 year
old’s body told court Wednesday.
Dr. Chitra Rao, a pathologist at Hamilton
General Hospital, said Cichocki suffered multiple facial fractures
and lacerations. Such facial wounds often result in massive
bleeding, and a person can inhale or swallow blood leading in
asphyxia, she testified in Welland Superior Court.
Rao said she could not say for certain if that
was the case with Cichocki, because she couldn’t determine the
degree of blood loss due to the body’s advanced decomposition when
she examined it in January 2006.
She said Cichocki had cocaine in her system at
the time of her death, which could have resulted in an adverse
affect on the internal organs, such as irregular heartbeat or
cardiac arrest.
“The toxic effects of cocaine are so widespread
it involves all the organs,” the doctor said. “In the presence of
an injury, it exaggerates the effects of the injury.”
Michael Durant, 39, has pleaded not guilty to
two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of
Cichocki and Diane Dimitri, 32.
The six-man, six-woman jury was shown graphic
photographs of Cichocki’s head wounds, as well as the bruises that
covered her shoulders and back.
Rao said the woman’s jaw bone was fractured in
several places and it would have taken “considerable force” to
inflict such an injury.
“It’s quite a hard bone. To fracture it, you’d
have to use quite a lot of force.”
Also, Cichocki’s teeth were loose and one tooth
was found in her stomach.
Rao told Crown attorney Jeffrey Richardson the
young woman could not have lived more than six hours after the
injuries were inflicted.
The jury also heard from a Niagara Falls man
who happened upon Cichocki’s body while walking his dog along
Whirlpool Rd.
Donald Lafranboise testified he was walking in
the area Jan. 23, 2006 when he spotted what appeared to be large
piece of white plastic lying on the ground.
“There was so much garbage back there, that I
didn’t really understand what it was,” he said. “I didn’t give
much thought to it.”
When he returned to the area the next day, he
decided to take a closer look.
“Curiosity kills the cat, they say, so I
proceeded to see what it was,” he said.
As he got closer, he realized it wasn’t a
plastic sheet but a bed sheet covering a woman’s body.
Man implicated in murder denies involvement
By Alison Langley
- Niagara Falls Review
September 25, 2012
A former drug addict implicated in the
bludgeoning death of Diane Dimitri by murder suspect Michael
Durant denied any involvement in the woman’s untimely death in the
summer of 2003.
Raymond Gallan, 52, testified Tuesday in
Welland Superior Court that, despite being a heavy user of heroin
and cocaine that summer, he was not present when Dimitri was
killed.
It has been suggested in earlier testimony that
Dimitri, her boyfriend, Gallan and Durant were partying and doing
drugs in Durant’s garage on Toby Cres. when the boyfriend became
angry with the 32-year-old woman and struck her in the head with a
hammer.
Defence counsel Michael Lacy has suggested the
boyfriend, a man who has since died, and Gallan left with a badly
injured Dimitri and that Durant stayed behind to clean up the
blood.
Gallan testified he had bought drugs for Durant
in the past but insisted he had never been to his home.
“I don’t know where he lives so how would I
know where his garage was?”
He said he last saw Dimitri alive in early
August, possibly two to three days before her body was discovered
Aug. 9, 2003 in a ditch near Welland.
Durant, 39, has pleaded not guilty to two
counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of
Dimitri and Cassey Cichocki, 22, whose body was found Jan. 24,
2006 near Whirlpool Rd.
Gallan said he knew Dimitri and her boyfriend
from “the night life in Niagara Falls,” most notably from a cafe
that was "infested with drugs," he told Crown attorney David King.
He described the couple’s relationship as
rocky.
“He was always hitting her,” he recalled. “It
was a bully romance relationship.”
Concerned by the abuse, Gallan said he warned
the boyfriend to leave Dimitri alone.
Lacy launched his cross-examination by pointing
out inconsistencies between Gallan’s testimony Tuesday and what he
originally told police in the fall of 2003.
During his cross-examination, Gallan, who
suffers from serious medical issues, told Judge James Ramsay he
could no longer continue with his testimony.
Durant's ex grilled by lawyer
By Alison Langley
- Niagara Falls Review
September 18, 2012
A combative Dana Arnold defended herself for a
second day against her ex-husband’s lawyer who attacked her
credibility, suggesting she concocted stories that implicated
Michael Durant in a murder case to suit her own needs.
“There are so many versions we can’t even keep
track of them, right?” defence counsel Michael Lacy asked Arnold
in Welland Superior Court on Tuesday, referring to Arnold’s
various interviews she gave to police detailing the events of a
summer night in August 2003.
“I am going to suggest you don’t know what the
truth is any more, correct?”
“And, I’m going to suggest to you that I do,”
Arnold replied.
“You’re a pretty convincing liar,” Lacy said.
“I don’t think so,” Arnold replied.
Durant, 39, has pleaded not guilty to two
counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 32-year-old Diane
Dimitri, whose lifeless body was dumped in rural Welland in 2003,
and Cassey Cichocki, 22, whose body was found Jan. 24, 2006 near
Whirlpool Rd.
Arnold testified earlier she returned to her
Toby Cres. home one night in August 2003 to find her then-husband
covered in blood and a badly injured Dimitri in the garage.
She said Durant put Dimitri in the back of the
family car and ordered Arnold to drive to the outskirts of Welland
where he dumped her body in a ditch.
She admitted she originally lied to police
about her involvement out of fear of her husband.
“I’m sure I lied through my teeth for a lot of
it to make Michael look good.”
In the fall of 2007, four years after Dimitri’s
death, Arnold met with police and told them Durant was responsible
for the 32-year-old woman’s death.
Lacy suggested the woman only came forward
because she had entered into a new relationship with another man
and feared Durant may get out of jail if there was not enough
evidence to keep him behind bars.
Arnold maintained her story is true, adding how
else would she know what Dimitri looked like, what she was
wearing, and where her body had been dumped.
Lacy said the case made headlines at the time
and was featured in both newspapers and on television.
He went on to say Durant may have had blood on
his hands in the garage that night because he had cleaned up the
blood that resulted from a physical altercation between Dimitri
and her boyfriend who had been in the garage with another man.
Arnold vehemently disagreed.
“The truth needs to come out and Mike needs to
own up for what he did.”
“The families need closure,” Arnold said.
“Did the families not deserve closure in August
2003?” Lacy countered.
“Are you trying to set yourself up as a martyr
to the family?”
“No, I’m not a martyr,” Arnold replied.
Durant trial to
begin Monday
By Alison Langley - Niagara Falls Review
Friday, September 7, 2012
It's a day Wilma Kyle has waited more than six
years for.
The Welland woman will be in Welland Superior
Court on Monday to hear how her young step-daughter met her
untimely death.
Twenty-two-year-old Cassey Joyce Cichocki, of
Niagara Falls, vanished without a trace from the city's downtown
in early December 2005.
Her body was found Jan. 24, 2006 near Whirlpool
Rd. and Church's Lane.
"We as Cassey's family are still missing
her...loving her," Kyle said. "The wounds are still very open."
Michael Durant, of Niagara Falls, pleaded not
guilty last week before Judge James Ramsay to two counts of
first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Cichocki and
Diane Dimitri, whose body was discovered in Welland in August
2003.
His trial begins Monday before a 12-member jury
and is expected to last between four and six months and include
testimony from more than 200 witnesses.
Hundreds of potential jurors were at the
courthouse over two days this week.
A large number of individuals were dismissed by
the judge after submitting letters from employers and physicians
which explained that such a lengthy trial would be a strain on
their health and/or finances.
The judge also dismissed nursing mothers and
pregnant women.
Each potential juror was also asked by Toronto
defence lawyer Michael Lacy if they had read anything about the
case or watched any news coverage of the case. Those who said yes
were also dismissed.
Meanwhile, Kyle is preparing for the trial and
she knows some of the evidence will be painful to hear.
She also doesn't want people to judge Cichocki,
who police have said engaged in high-risk behaviour to support a
drug addiction.
"Cassey was a lost child that was so very
loved," Kyle said.
"I just want to remind everyone that knew
Cassey or my family what Cassey meant to us and to please not
judge her for what she did but to remember that she was a sweet
child of God and loved her family so very much and was loved by
her family."
Durant, 39, was arrested in January 2006 and
charged with first-degree murder in connection with Cichocki's
death.
Seven months later, he was charged with
first-degree murder in connection with Dimitri's death.
Dimitri, a 32-year-old widow and mother of four
from Niagara Falls, was found in a ditch on Darby Rd. on Aug. 9,
2003.
Durant has remained in police
custody since his arrest.
Second Murder Charge For
Niagara Falls Man
CityNews.ca
June 5, 2006
He’s already accused in the
death of an exotic dancer and now a Niagara Falls man faces a
second murder charge.
On Monday, Michael Durant was charged with
first-degree murder in the slaying of 28-year-old Diane Dimitri,
whose body was discovered in a Welland ditch in August of 2003.
Dimitri is one of five women – all of them
prostitutes and/or strippers – found dead in the Niagara region
since 1996.
Cops won’t say if D.N.A. helped them amass
enough evidence to lay the charge.
“I think that might be getting into a little
too much detail with regards to the investigation,” cautions
Niagara Regional Deputy Chief Donna Moody.
Earlier in the year Durant, 33, was charged
with second-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Cassey
Cichocki. Her body was found in January wrapped in a blanket near
the Niagara Gorge. That charge has since been upgraded to
first-degree murder.
Niagara Police launched a task force earlier in
the year to determine whether the deaths of Cichocki, Dimitri and
three other women – Dawn Stewart, 32, Nadine Gurczenski, 26, and
Margaret Jugaru, 26 – were related.
Moody admits investigators are still looking
into a possible connection between all five slayings. But at this
point, Durant doesn’t face charges in connection with the other
deaths.
Kyri Kyriacou, Dimitri’s father, asked for
respect from the media when talking about his daughter and said he
was hopeful her killer would be brought to justice.
“For the past three years we’ve had no idea
why, no questions answered, and now we have a possibility,” he
said.
“It’s going to be a long struggle. Closure is
the important thing.”
He knows his daughter’s profession may raise
eyebrows but he contends those who knew her were aware she was
anything but that stereotype.
“My daughter, she would have been 32 years old
in September, the year that she was murdered. Very loving mother,
very caring about the children.”
Durant will make a court appearance in St.
Catharines on June 16th to answer the new first-degree murder
charge.
