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Video footage tracks Denecho King on day victim died, as trial enters 2nd week

King is facing charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault in connection with a 2014 incident at Sunridge Place apartments.

King is facing charges of 2nd-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault

King, 25, is facing a trial by judge alone for charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault. It's in connection to the death of John Wifladt and serious injury of Colin Digness. (Yellowknife RCMP)

Video footage presented in court Monday shows Denecho King was at the Northern Lites Motel, in downtown Yellowknife, the same day John Wifladt died.

King, 25, is facing a trial by judge alone for charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault. It's in connection to the death of John Wifladt and serious injury of Colin Digness.

The two men were found seriously injured at a Sunridge Place apartment early in the morning on Dec. 14, 2014.

Wifladt later died in hospital.

On Monday in court, the Crown prosecutor presented several clips of video footage, including some from inside the front lobby of the motel on 50 Street.

In one clip taken just after 5 a.m. on Dec. 14 — the same day Wifladt and Digness were found injured — King walks through the front door of the lobby and starts talking to the man sitting at the front desk.

After standing there for a while and grabbing some of the man's trail mix on occasion, King puts his hands together like he's gripping a baseball bat.

Video footage taken inside the Northern Lites Motel lobby just after 5 a.m. on Dec. 14, 2014. It shows King raising his arms and swinging them back down again. (Evidence)

He brings them up over his head and then swings them back down toward the floor in a cross-body motion — doing this a few times before he stops.

A little while later, King is seen walking out the door.


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Witness remembers hearing about fights

James Curtis was working at the front desk of the motel that night.

Testifying about it in court, he said he remembers King telling him he got in a fight with two people.

But when Curtis was cross-examined by defence lawyer Jay Bran, he couldn't say when exactly the fight took place — whether it was that day, or years ago, for example.

He said he wasn't paying much attention to King either, adding he heard about fights often at his job.

The Crown asked Curtis a number of questions, like whether he'd seen any blood on King, any signs of intoxication or if he knew who King's fight was with.

The witness said he didn't know.

But, seeing King again later that morning, Curtis said he noticed black tape and tissue on King's upper right arm.

The trial continues Tuesday in N.W.T. Supreme Court.