Murder trial hears accused met with Tina Fontaine after she was reported missing
WINNIPEG — Jurors were told shortly before 15-year-old Tina Fontaine’s body was found in the Red River wrapped in a duvet cover and weighed down by rocks, her accused killer told an acquaintance he had recently met with the girl.
Ernie DeWolfe was the first witness at the 11-day trial to suggest Raymond Cormier, 55, might have been with Tina after she was reported missing in Winnipeg and shortly before her death.
Cormier has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. The trial has already heard from witnesses who say they saw Cormier arguing with Tina the night of Aug. 6, 2014 on a street outside a mutual friend’s home.
Tina had recently travelled to Winnipeg to try to reconnect with her mother and became a sexually exploited youth who ran away from shelters and hotels where she was housed by Manitoba Child and Family Services.