Article content continued

Photo by CHAD HIPOLITO / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Ulanowski testified that he had had trouble pushing open the door to the suite but admitted that he had failed to make any notes of that difficulty. The officer, who testified that he left the scene to get help after noticing that there was blood on the walls and floors and that there appeared to be a dead girl in a room, said that he was left feeling “uncomfortable” by the scene.

“This is uncomfortable because I have to reference dead kids that remind me of my own kids. That’s why this is difficult.”

Ulanowski added that the only thing he wanted to do that night after his lengthy shift was to go home to his children.

“Anything more you want to add,” said McCullough. “Would you like a break?”

“No, I’m fine your honour,” Ulanowski said to the judge.

“You realize he’s on trial for murder don’t you?” McCullough said of his client.

“I realize and I’m telling you what I recall at the time,” said the officer.

McCullough suggested that Ulanowski was trying to cover up his incompetence with the idea that what he had seen had freaked him out.

“That’s what you’re really doing, isn’t it?” said McCullough.

“Yeah, it freaked me out,” said Ulanowski.

McCullough then suggested that it didn’t freak out the officer too much that he was unable to make detailed notes.

“The whole situation freaked me out,” said the officer.

Photo by Victoria Times Colonist files / PNG

McCullough also questioned Ulanowski about the fact that he and several other officers met together later in the evening for a mental-health session before Ulanowski finished giving a written statement about his involvement in the case. The defence lawyer suggested that Ulanowski’s actions raised the possibility that his evidence had been contaminated.