Youth tells court of disturbing role in slaying of Edmonton girl

A young man who has pleaded guilty in the death of a 13-year-old has tolda court about hisdisturbing role inthe sexual assault andslayingof the girl on an Edmonton golf course.

The 19-year-old,testifying in the trial of two other men charged in the murder,said Tuesdaythat after the gruesome attack,he and three others —includingone of the menwhose case is being heard— went toa pizza joint.

"I wanted to grab some food," he said.

Michael Briscoe, 36, and Joseph Laboucan, 21, have been charged in the kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and first-degree murder of Nina Courtepatte.

Her bruised and bloody body was found on the Edmonton Springs Golf Course in April 2005.

The 19-year-old is the only person among five charged in her death to plead guilty to first-degree murder. He is expected to be sentenced at a later date and can't be named because he was a youth at the time of his crime.

The thin, studious looking young man with glasses wore a T-shirt and jeans as he testified about how Courtepatte and her friendwerepicked up atWest Edmonton Mall and driven to a deserted golf course.

'I hit Nina two times in the head': witness

Laboucan started choking the 13-year-old, and then he and Laboucan sexually assaulted her,hetestified.

Laboucan handed him a sledgehammer and told him to "do it,"the 19-year-oldsaid.

"I hit Nina two times in the head. Joe comes over and starts hitting Nina with a wrench."

The court also heard that Briscoe played more of a role in the girl's death than previous witnesses have testified.

The witness said Briscoe was at the scene for the entire attack on Nina, that he participated in the attack by hitting her in the head with the sledgehammer, and that he, Briscoe, and two others went out to eat at a pizza place shortly after the killing.

The owner of the golf course later found the girl's body and called police.

Likely 'a survival time of a few minutes:' medicalexaminer

Medical examiner Graeme Dowling, also on the stand Tuesday morning, described the autopsy he performed on Courtepatte. She suffered up to 15 cuts and lacerations to her head, he said.

Outside the court, Dowling said: "In spite of the best medical care that could have been given, I don't think she would have survived.

"I thought it was reasonable to estimate that she would be unconscious probably immediately and dead shortly there after. Probably a survival time of a few minutes."

Briscoe and Laboucan are being tried before a judge alone in Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench. The trial is expected to last a month.

Unlike the other three charged in the murder, Briscoe and Laboucan were adults at the time of her death.

Two young women are also charged with kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and first-degree murder, but haven't yet goneto trial. The women, teens at the time of the slaying, can't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.