Crown argues Lucy Li told 'calculated lies' at Hamilton trial to get away with murder committed with husband
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Lucy Li was "smack in the middle" of an elaborate plan with her husband Oliver Karafa to shoot and kill their friends outside a Stoney Creek warehouse, the Crown attorney said during closing arguments of their murder trial this week.
Tyler Pratt, 39, was murdered in February 2021 after sustaining multiple gunshot wounds including one in the back of the head. Jordyn Romano, Pratt's 26-year-old pregnant girlfriend, was also shot but survived. Her unborn child died.
Li and Karafa both face charges for the first-degree murder of Pratt and attempted murder of Romano and have been on trial in front of a 13-person jury for the past seven weeks.
In the Hamilton courtroom Tuesday, Li's defence lawyer Liam O'Connor argued she wasn't smart enough to actively plan the murder and was "strung along" by Karafa and should be found not guilty.
Karafa's lawyer Peter Zudak said his client should be found guilty of second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder, arguing he didn't plan to shoot Pratt and Romano.
On Wednesday, Crown attorney Mark Dean focused his closing remarks tying Li to the planning of Pratt and Romano's murders, rather than the "overwhelming" evidence proving Karafa's involvement, he said.
Li had taken the stand in her own defence earlier in the trial, and Dean highlighted several inconsistencies with her testimony and what she'd said previously in text messages and police interviews. Dean said she told "calculated lies" to distance herself from having a motive for murder.
"At every point, the beginning, middle and end, Lucy is smack in the middle of this plan," Dean told the jury.
"She's in on it and she's lied to you so many times it should make your head spin."
The jury has heard that Pratt was from British Columbia and made millions of dollars as an international drug dealer. He and Romano became friends with Karafa and Li, who lived in Toronto, in 2020.
Pratt invested half a million dollars in a personal protective protective equipment business opportunity presented by Karafa as the COVID-19 pandemic ramped up.
Leading up to his murder, Pratt was waiting to get his money back and millions of more dollars in supposed profits, Dean said.
But Karafa and Li didn't have the money and they were stalling — and planning, said Dean.
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