KAMLOOPS, B.C. — A Kamloops jury has viewed video of a man telling an undercover police officer that he bashed his girlfriend on the head upwards of 60 times with a mallet and sledgehammer before packing her body in a cooler.
Robert Balbar's trial was opened Wednesday by prosecutors who played a secretly-taped recording of the man saying he repeatedly struck his girlfriend when she began waving around a machete, and then stowed away her body to avoid splattering the apartment with blood.
Balbar, 42, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Heather Hamill, whose body was found in the North Thompson River in 2003.
Court heard the video confession was obtained during a so-called Mr. Big police sting operation, which involves police posing as criminals to gather information.
Balbar claimed at an earlier trial in 2009 that he killed Hamill in self-defence when she attacked him with the knife, but a jury later convicted him of second-degree murder.
A new trial was ordered after an appeal panel ruled that the judge didn't address Balbar's state of mind as it related to self-defence, and that his limited mental capacity was a significant factor in his intent. (CHNL, The Canadian Press)
