Wills
was to meet with 'psychic' day he surrendered: trial
Shannon
Kari, CanWest News Service
Published: Tuesday, July 24, 2007
NEWMARKET,
Ont. -- A Toronto police constable under investigation in the disappearance of
his lover, surrendered the same day he was supposed to meet with a psychic who
was actually an undercover officer, a jury heard Tuesday.
Richard
Wills, 50, who is on trial on charges of first-degree murder in the February,
2002, death of his lover Linda Mariani, initially agreed to meet with the psychic
at the urging of her best friend who was secretly working as an agent for the
police.
After
Mr. Wills surrendered in June, 2002, York Regional Police found Ms. Mariani's
body in a plastic garbage bin in the officer's home in the Toronto-area community
of Richmond Hill.
A
baseball bat was also inside the container and the 40-year-old woman had suffered
a fractured skull and a skipping rope was wrapped around her neck.
Wills
has maintained his innocence since he contacted police more than five years ago.
Defence
lawyer Raj Napal told the jury that Mariani slipped and fell down the stairs accidentally
while trying to pick up a Valentine's gift, during opening arguments when the
trial began on May 31.
Mr.
Napal suggested that Mr.Wills hid his long-time lover's body in the container
in a false wall in his home as part of a plan to eventually bury her near his
family cottage.
The
jury has heard that Mr. Wills repeatedly tried to implicate Ms. Mariani's husband
as someone police should investigate.
More
than a month after Ms. Mariani disappeared, her best friend Janet Amare approached
police and offered to become part of an undercover operation that was dubbed "Project
Willpower."
"I
put together a suggested scenario," said Ms. Amare, who is a self-described
"intuitive healer," a doctor of natural medicine and counselor. The
jury heard Tuesday that her clients have included four Ontario government ministries.
Ms.
Amare testified that she knew Mr. Wills believed in psychics and it might be a
way to "prompt" him to do something that would help the police investigation.
The
jury heard the first of several phone calls between Ms. Amare and Mr. Wills in
May, 2002, that were recorded by police.
Ms.
Amare told Mr. Wills that she was in contact with a "highly recommended"
psychic named "Yusef" who has had success in finding missing people.
"I
can only hope he can be successful on this," said Mr. Wills, even though
Ms. Mariani's body was actually encased in the garbage container in his house
at the time of this conversation.
A
few weeks later, a meeting was set up between Mr. Wills and Yusef. A few hours
before they were supposed to meet, Mr. Wills contacted a lawyer and surrendered
to York Regional Police. He has since retired from the Toronto police.
Ms.
Amare continues her testimony Wednesday.
