Adam Strong trial begins

The trial of accused murderer Adam Strong began with prosecutors detailing the story of two plumbers who found a flesh-like substance in a drain.

In court, prosecutors described the scene upon receiving a call from the plumbers doing work at Strong’s home.

They had been hired by the tenants of the main floor apartment to unclog the drain at Strong’s McMillan Drive apartment building, according to Crown Attorney Bryan Guertin.

“The plumbers pulled out what appeared to be a flesh-like substance,” he says. “The plumbers, unsure of what they found, called police.”

It was late December when an officer responded to the call, explains Guertin.

“Okay, you got me, the gig’s up, it’s a body,” Strong allegedly told the officer upon opening the door. “If you want to recover the rest of her, it’s in my freezer.”

Strong is accused of murdering Rori Hache, 18, after he was initially taken into custody for interference with a body when Hache’s partial remains were found in his apartment.

Hache disappeared in August 2017, and her torso was found in Lake Ontario a month later.

Strong is also accused of murdering Kandis Fitzpatrick, who disappeared when she was 19 in 2008. Durham police found DNA belonging to Fitzpatrick in Strong’s home in July 2018.

He has pleaded not guilty to both first-degree murder charges.

Strong wasn’t on police radar until he was caught trying to dispose of Hache’s remains, says Guertin.

Hache’s torso was found by fishermen in the Oshawa Harbour on Sept. 11, 2017.

Guertin alleges data from Google showed Strong’s phone at the harbour a week before on Sept. 4, 2017, which was when he allegedly disposed of the body.

Upon further examination of Hache’s body, a medical examiner will testify she had multiple injuries on her body, including two skull fractures, says Guertin. But due to the state of her remains, a cause of death is unknown.

Forensic investigators at the scene also came upon a large hunting knife, which had Fitzpatrick’s DNA. Her blood was also found in Strong’s freezer and bedroom.

Strong’s statement to the officer who knocked on his door, as well as two videotaped interviews he had with police, are subject to legal arguments in the next few weeks about their admissibility.