Matthew Foerster broke down in tears as police interviewed him following his arrest.
“I feel your pain, I honest to God do,” said Sgt. Mark Davidson, in a video clip of his interrogation of Foerster, April 6 2012. “Let it out…you need to get it out, you need to let your story out.”
Foerster, who earlier expressed surprise that his arrest had made news across the country, wept openly as Davidson comforted him.
That clip prompted a rare show of emotion from the Cherryville man, as he sat in the prisoner’s box blinking back tears.
Victim Taylor Van Diest’s family, were unmoved by the footage.
Throughout the morning they once again had to relive the day Taylor, 18, died from injuries that Foerster has admitted he caused Halloween 2011. How the injuries were caused and Foerster’s ability to form intent are lingering questions that have yet to be addressed.
Taking the stand early in the day was the teen who said he found Van Diest’s phone. It was found somewhere between one and three metres from where Van Diest was found.
Van Diest’s friend, Clay Valstar, 19, then offered testimony that was more demanding on the family.
He testified that he was meeting Taylor and another friend for some trick-or-treating on Halloween night in 2011.
The jury was made privy to some playful texts between Valstar and Van Diest that night.
Their expectation, he said, was that they’d meet at around 6 p.m. But, a regular flow of messages came to an abrupt end after Van Diest sent a message to a mutual friend, that she was being “crepped.”
That prompted them to drive around looking for her, but after 90 minutes or so they called Van Diest’s house to say she was missing, and the police should be called.
When they learned that Van Diest’s phone had been found at the railroad tracks, they all went in that direction.
Two of the group had gone ahead down the dark path where the tracks lay, and Valstar testified he heard them scream. When he caught up he saw Van Diest face down on the ground, over a bit of a pit, “grunting and twitching,” he said.
He grabbed her arm to see if she was OK, but there wasn’t much response.
He noticed a fair amount of blood, as well.
