Canadian True Crime - 26 The Murder of Michelle Barnoski

Episode Date: June 1, 2018

Warkworth, Ontario. In 2011, a 33-year-old single mother went missing in a small village in Ontario. As the mystery slowly unraveled, the truth would be revealed about what happened to her, and how things got to that point. Support my sponsors! Here's where the discount codes are:www.canadiantruecrime.ca/sponsorsPodcast recommendations:Emma Fillipoff is MissingThe Westside FairytalesPleasing Terrors For information sources, credits and more, please visit www.canadiantruecrime.ca.Support the show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This podcast may contain coarse language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature. Listener discretion is advised. The small community of Walkworth is situated in Northumberland County, about one hour and 45 minutes drive east of Toronto, in the province of Ontario. It's surrounded by small lakes, rivers, and falls, and is known for its golf clubs and quaint little shops. When you step into town, you feel like you are completely removed from the busy hustle

of the cities all around you. Walkworth is also known for its close-knit community, showcasing various social activities and festivals like agricultural and architectural heritage clubs, art galleries and shows, cafes, maple syrup-tapping festivals, and seasonal parades that keep the members of the community close and neighbourly. There's something for just about everyone to enjoy in Walkworth. Low crime rates and year-round seasonal activities keep the residents happy and proud to call the community home.

In 2008, one of these families were 33-year-old Michelle Barnoski and her teenage son Cody. This is Christy, and you're listening to Canadian True Crime, Episode 26, The Murder of Michelle Barnoski. According to Cody's paternal grandmother, her son, Cody's father, had drug and alcohol addiction issues and abandoned the family when his son was about six or seven. After this, Cody often stayed at his grandparents' house, with them taking on more of a parenting role than grandparents usually do. But when Cody was 12, his mother Michelle decided to move to a different city, and contact

with these grandparents became increasingly infrequent. The pair lived a slightly transient life and were always moving. In fact, Cody had attended nine different schools by the time he hit Grade 9. Michelle had two sisters, Nina and Lisa. Nina had previously been in a long-term relationship with a man called Mark, and they'd lived together in a house that he owned on Concession Street in Walkworth. But the relationship ended, and Nina moved out. Mark was close with all of Nina's family, so the relationship ending was a bit of a

blow for them all. Over the next year, Mark realized he was struggling to make the mortgage payments living in his house on his own, so he decided he needed to rent out rooms. At the same time, his ex-girlfriend's sister Michelle, with her son Cody, was struggling financially. She needed a new place for them to live, a cheaper place. It seemed like perfect timing, so she and Mark came to an arrangement. She would rent his rooms.

It was a win-win situation. Mark had tenants to help pay his monthly outgoings, and Michelle and Cody had a cheap place to stay with a built-in landlord who could help with cleaning and maintenance. Michelle and Mark were both outdoors-type people, and had always gotten on well since Mark was in a relationship with Michelle's sister Nina. Cody even referred to Mark as his uncle. It was a good decision for everyone, with Michelle and Mark continuing to get on well after she and Cody moved in.

After a while, Michelle and Mark decided to start growing some marijuana plants in the house to make a little extra cash on the side, and Michelle started seeing a man named Terry. But it seems there was an issue between Michelle's new boyfriend and her housemate Mark regarding the marijuana growing in the house. Mark told Terry that he was no longer welcome there. He didn't want word on what they were doing getting out to anyone else. As Michelle's relationship with Terry got more serious, and with him not being able to go to her house, she would take off to stay at his house for a few days at a time,

often leaving Cody to provide for himself. On the morning of May 28th, 2008, Cody sent a message to his aunt Nina. He told her that he and his mother had an argument the night before, then she had stormed off and hadn't returned. She also hadn't made it to work that day. Cody wondered whether his aunt had seen her. She hadn't, and Nina spent the rest of the day calling around trying to find Michelle, but there was no sign of her.

Her boyfriend Terry also said he didn't know where she was. Michelle's sisters Nina and Lisa spent the next several days searching the area for her, including nearby ditches for her car. Maybe she had an accident and no one had found her yet. According to Cody's grandmother, the teen had gone to her house the day after his mother went missing. He asked her if maybe his mother was missing because of the drug she was taking, adding that she uses and sells drugs.

There's always men lined up outside the house. It seems Michelle's sister Nina was reluctant to call the police because she knew that Michelle and Mark were secretly growing marijuana in the house, although she didn't know whether it was for personal use or to sell. She waited a bit. Before she decided to call the police, she spoke with Mark, presumably to make sure she had the all clear. So it wasn't until May 29th, 2008, two days after Michelle's disappearance, that her

family members contacted the Ontario Provincial Police, or OPP. Soon, the public had been informed that Michelle Barnoski was last seen leaving her house in Walkworth on the night of May 27th, 2008. Michelle was described as being 33 years old, approximately five foot four inches tall, and medium build, with a fair to medium complexion and wavy red dyed medium length hair. She was driving her 1999 red Pontiac Sunfire and was wearing a camouflage coat with jeans and white running shoes. She has a tattoo of a tiger playing with a butterfly located on her left ankle.

The police asked the public to come forward if they'd seen hitchhikers or persons walking out on County Road 25 on May 27th, the night Michelle went missing. Not long after that, Michelle's car was located. The missing Pontiac Sunfire was found in a secluded area on the west side of County Road 25, just south of Walkworth. Growing concern tonight about a Walkworth woman who's been missing for nearly a week. Andistar Purvis reports an extensive search is now underway. 33 year old Michelle Barnoski was last seen Tuesday evening, leaving her home south of

Walkworth. By this point, police are considering the case to be suspicious, and family members say the disappearance is totally out of Michelle's character. This is suspicious disappearance for a number of reasons, obviously. The first reason is the passage of time since she was last seen, that her vehicle was recovered, abandoned, and that friends and family have not been contacted by her since the 27th of May. The area continues to be searched by the OPP's Northumberland Detachment, the Emergency

Response Team, canine unit and helicopter. Michelle's car was parked in within the tree line, and not overly visible. It had actually been seen several days beforehand by a local turkey hunter, but he assumed the vehicle belonged to a fellow hunter, so didn't report it to police until later, when he heard radio news reports about Michelle's disappearance. The driver and passenger windows of the car were opened, and the keys were found sitting on the driver's seat. The car was a green purse, a cell phone, and cross-training binders with the name Michelle

on them. The car had been found, but there was still no sign of Michelle. As part of their enhanced search efforts, the police combed the area where the car was found. They began searching with officers and emergency response workers on foot, the canine unit and a helicopter, and later, a dive team was brought onto the case to search in various bodies of water in the surrounding area where the vehicle was discovered. Although there was still no sign of Michelle, the OPP said they were optimistic that she

would be found alive. They said they were expanding their search to other areas around the village of Walkworth. According to Constable Chris Dewsbury, Michelle Barnoski's home had been searched but no evidence was found, so police then had to rely on what they could get from her car. Police dusted the entire car for prints, but found only one partial print on the driver's side door. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be useful for identification. After a thorough sweep, the officer came up with nothing, prompting another warrant

to search Michelle's home again. On June the 12th, just over two weeks after Michelle was last seen, the police announced that arrested two suspects, a 34-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy. No further information was given. The community was visibly shocked, left wondering who these people were and what the story was. This community was peaceful, so surely it must have been some sort of accident. The following day, a reporter from the local Northumberland newspaper reported she witnessed the OPP executing a search warrant on the Concession Street house where Michelle Barnoski

lived. Photos were taken of the two-story, simple white wooden home, surrounded by police tape. A tent had been erected in the backyard with a sign saying forensic investigation, but police wouldn't comment on whether Michelle had been found or if the search was going to continue. That sunny Thursday afternoon, the 14-year-old boy was escorted into the courtroom by bailiff and an OPP escort. The media weren't able to report on his name because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act,

which grants privacy to prevent stigmatisation of young offenders. The reasoning behind this is because underage offenders are often presumed able to be rehabilitated if found guilty, and publicising their details may hinder that. Having said that, youth aged 12 to 17 can still be sentenced as adults under certain conditions related to the severity of the crime, but can still remain anonymous as far as the public goes until they turn 18. The teenager was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, and the media took photos of him with a cover over his head.

The judge announced that he was being charged with second-degree murder. The teen stood quietly. He was, of course, Cody Barnoski, Michelle's own teenage son. The fellow charged that day was the 34-year-old, who was able to be named publicly. It was Mark Vickers, Michelle's landlord, housemate, and partner in marijuana growing. He'd been charged with accessory after the fact to Cody's second-degree murder charge. He wore a plaid shirt that was torn with jeans. Both the youth and the man were denied bail.

This told the media that they were continuing the search, but as yet had not found Michelle Barnoski. Three had lived in that house. Now one was presumed dead, and the other two had been accused in her murder. What had gone so wrong in that house? Later that day, after searching that property for the second time, police found something in the backyard. They discovered loose dirt covered by sheets of wood.

After removing the sheets of wood, officers discovered a shallow grave that contained human remains wrapped up in a harry potter blanket, then a blue tarp tied with multiple bungee cords. They didn't unwrap the package, instead sending it straight to the lab in Toronto to be formally identified and autopsyed. They were still keeping quiet on the details of the case. They said they knew where the crime took place, but wouldn't tell, and also wouldn't comment on whether they'd found a murder weapon and how they'd come to lay the charges on the

two suspects. The autopsy positively identified the body as Michelle Barnoski. It was determined that she had been bludgeoned in the head and suffered eight gunshot wounds to the head and neck. Her left arm was broken and bones in her right hand were cracked. The coroner's report said Michelle was likely still alive during the gruesome beating, after which she was fatally shot multiple times in the head and neck. As we know, a few days before Michelle's body was found, the police had searched her

house. In a container on a table in Cody's room, they found several spent bullet casings that came from a .22 caliber gun. At the time, the police didn't know that a gun was involved, so didn't see the relevance of the casings. It wasn't until later when the officer updated the file with information about the cartridges and then compared it to the freshly released information about Michelle's cause of death involving gunshot wounds that the information became exponentially relevant.

Mark's ex-girlfriend Nina's father, also Michelle's father, had previously given him a gun, a .22 caliber long rifle. Mark and his ex-girlfriend's father were quite close and would sometimes shoot targets in the backyard together. The gun was kept in the main floor bedroom. Nina would say that Mark had showed 14-year-old Cody how to operate the gun. Three months later, the media reported that Mark Vickers, who was originally charged with being an accessory after the fact, had his charges upgraded to second-degree murder and

then first-degree murder. And after that, it was announced that Cody Barnoski's charges had also been upgraded from second-degree murder to first-degree, although obviously at this point, no reason was given why. And although publication of his name was still protected under the publication ban, the media were given permission to report the simple fact that this youth accused of the first-degree murder of Michelle Barnoski was in fact her own son. Next, Cody Barnoski and Mark Vickers would go on trial for the murder of Michelle Barnoski.

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That's squarespace.com.ctc with offer code CTC, and get your passion project off the ground today. Cody Barnoski and Mark Vickers would be tried separately, because Cody was a youth and Mark an adult. Cody's trial started first in November 2009. His trial was in Peterborough, a city nearby the village of Walkworth. Mark's trial started almost a year later in Oshawa, a city just east of Toronto where potential jurors were less likely to have seen the reports of the murder in Cody's

trial. Many of the same witnesses attended both trials. In Cody's trial, witness reports provided testimony of an increasingly fractured and strained relationship between he and his mother Michelle, complicated by friction in their living arrangements, which included Mark Vickers. It seems they once had a loving mother-son relationship, but things started to crumble when Cody hit his teenage years. The two fought constantly over Cody skipping school, not helping out around the house,

and also when Cody started to seriously date a girl. Michelle thought that at age 14, Cody was too young to be in such a serious relationship. In the weeks before Michelle was reported missing, she had told her close family members and friends that Cody and Mark were ignoring her at home. She said they would stop talking as soon as she walked into a room, which caused a lot of tension and anger amongst the three housemates. Michelle's younger sister, Nina, told the court that Cody referred to his mother as a, quote, crack whore.

He described how she would often take off for a few days at a time and called it, crack whore abandonment. Mark Vickers was first interviewed by police five days after Michelle first went missing. He told police that the house he owned was also the stage where a lot of arguments and screaming matches took place between his tenants and housemates, Michelle and Cody. Mark said that he didn't like conflict he never has, quote, I just don't like kids being yelled at, but Mark himself had also been in conflict with Michelle. It seemed they no longer got along like they used to and spent a lot of time either arguing

or complaining about each other. Despite this, Mark told the police that he loved Michelle, presumably as a friend since there's no evidence of the relationship ever being more than that, quote, even though we might have fought, I loved to have her come home. As for that night, Mark told police that he was staying at his sister's house in Brampton, and when he came back home the next day, he found Cody by himself, saying that Michelle had stormed out of the house the night before after they had an argument. Cody told him he hadn't seen his mum since then.

Mark continued to repeat this story to the police in more interviews, while politely chatting with officers, but when a detective brought up glaring errors in his alibi, he finally broke down in tears, suddenly seeming overwhelmed and complaining of nausea. He said to the police that he'd gone through enough twisting and turmoil the previous two weeks and was ready to tell the truth. Mark changed his story. He admitted that he'd asked family members to help him with his fake alibi. He confessed that in fact he was home the night Michelle went missing, but when he heard

she and Cody start to have a loud argument, he went outside to escape from it. While there, he said he heard a scream coming from the house and heard Michelle yell at Cody, what the fuck are you doing, get the fuck away from me. Mark then told police he fainted, out cold. When Mark Vickers came to, he said Cody Barnoski was standing over him, ordering him into the house, and when he went in, he saw Michelle Barnoski's lifeless body lying on the living room floor. Mark admitted that after this, he helped Cody bury his mother's body and clean up the house,

while together they concocted the story about the pair arguing and Michelle storming off, never to be seen again. According to Mark, Cody then told him to do something with Michelle's car, so he drove it just out of the village of Walkworth with Cody riding as a passenger, left it in a field, and the pair walked home together. Mark said Cody wouldn't leave him alone after that, quote, he would not stop saying how he's going to implicate me in all this, he's going to blame me for it all, Mark described himself as being scared shitless, quote, he'd already threatened me twice that night.

Mark told police that he had offered to take the blame so that Cody would get off, but went on to say that he thought Cody had snapped, quote, he's fucking nuts. After this confession, the cops pressed him to tell them where Michelle's body was. Mark repeatedly told them to ask Cody, but finally he gave in and reluctantly told them it was somewhere in the backyard. The next day, the police discovered the shallow grave. After Michelle's body had been found, Mark once again stated his innocence, quote, I did not kill Michelle, her son did it, Cody Barnoski killed his mother.

Mark Vickers demonstrated some noticeable behavior changes in the days after Michelle went missing, according to her mother Mary Ann, as well as her younger sister Nina, who it seemed maintained a good relationship with Mark, even though they were no longer together as a couple. Nina said during her initial search for Michelle the day after she went missing, she stopped back to the Concession Street house where Michelle, Cody and Mark lived to use the washroom. She noticed that the house smelled like bleach, but didn't really think anything of it because she knew her sister often cleaned with the chemical.

At the same time, Mark told her that he was in fact several months behind on his mortgage payments and had made a sudden decision that he had to move to Brampton, the city in the greater Toronto area where his sister lived. Nina said that the next day, Mark stopped off at her home in Oshawa, a city east of Toronto to pick up Cody. As he walked toward her, Nina could tell that Mark was extremely upset, saying the word sorry over and over again. Quote, he was very distraught, his voice was hitching as he spoke.

Her mother Mary Ann observed the same behaviour, except she assumed that Mark was just upset about having to give up his house. Michelle's other sister Lisa said that when she was first told that Mark Vickers was the other man charged, she was shocked. Quote, it wasn't Mark, he had a very traumatic childhood. Mark was meek and mild and squeamish and gentle, like when you see a dog at the animal shelter and you have to take it home and care for it. She described her sister as a loving mum, who felt she'd found her calling as a mother.

She also described her sister as the wild child of the family, the one who took risks. She was the first one to jump off a pier without checking to see if there were rocks. Lisa said that Michelle liked to drink but didn't have a drinking problem and that she'd never seen her sister hurt Cody, except for one time when she pushed him into the wall damaging the drywall. She added that Michelle had a fiery temper when provoked. Michelle's boyfriend Terry Chisholm testified that his relationship with Michelle was getting serious, and before she disappeared, they were talking about moving in together.

He said he knew that Michelle was stressed the day she went missing because Cody was skipping school. Terry said that after Michelle went missing, he was beside himself, worried that she'd been arrested for impaired driving. He said that she would drink but she didn't consider it a problem and would occasionally smoke weed. The close relative of a neighbour of the Concession Street house said that on Friday night, May 16th, that's 11 days before Michelle went missing, she went to her relatives' house

on the same street to pick something up. She said that when passing Michelle's house, she could see two men. One was by the fence and another was by the shed, digging into the grass. He was holding a shovel. She recognised this man digging as Mark Vickers and the other one standing by the fence as Cody Barnoski. She assumed that what they were doing was drug-related. Upon cross-examination, the neighbour acknowledged that it was dark outside and she perhaps wasn't

able to see them really well. Another neighbour said that on May 26th, 2008, the day before Michelle went missing, she saw two males she identified as Cody and Mark doing what looked like yard work, raking and moving rocks and stuff, she said. A few days after that, she saw freshly dug dirt in its place and assumed it was supposed to be a garden. But when she returned to the house later that same day, she noticed the spot had been covered by a pile of wood and random tyres.

Yet another neighbour testified, saying that on Tuesday, May 27th, at around 10.45pm, the night Michelle went missing, he was standing on his porch when he heard a single gunshot, which the defence pointed out contradicted the forensic evidence that there were eight gunshots. The neighbour was a former corrections officer with some training in firearms and said he was sure the shot was fired from a high-calibre firearm, definitely a rifle, a long gun. He said it was close enough that he was intimidated by it, quote, I thought it was poachers and I was afraid of stray rounds.

He said he went to bed not long after that and didn't hear any other gunshots. A cashier at the Hastings Value Mart store said that on Wednesday, May 28th, the day after Michelle disappeared, she sold a loaf of bread and a container of bleach to a young kid. She said that the boy was shy and nervous but admitted she couldn't remember what he looked like or what he was wearing. Police later found the receipt for these purchases during one of the property searches. It was also revealed that while police were investigating Michelle's disappearance, her

bank card was used in Oshawa. Surveillance video clearly showed Cody Barnoski using the ATM. On June 12th, just over two weeks after Michelle was last seen, Cody was on his way to school when a marked police car pulled over a school bus. The officers boarded the bus and removed the 14-year-old, arresting him for second-degree murder and taking him into custody. In his police interviews, recorded both the day before and just after he got arrested, Cody said he wanted to help, although he said he believed his mother Michelle had just run

away. When asked if he killed her, he replied, no. Cody confirmed there was a third person living in the house. Mark Vickers, but he was in Brampton with his family the night of the argument and he didn't get back until later on the next day. Cody told the police that his mother liked to drink alcohol and go fishing. He said he already knew she was a drug addict, but Mark Vickers had told him recently that she was also dealing drugs.

Cody also suggested to the arresting officers that his mother traded sex for favours. Quote, I kind of think my mum's a whore. He told the officer that in the month or so before she went missing, his mother's behaviour had changed and she'd become more moody. He said she was frequently away from the home and would stay three days with a man and return with boxes of food for them to eat. Cody said Michelle only came home to shower in the few months before she went missing and went on to say, quote, my mum kind of cut me out of her life over the last two or

three weeks. The day that Cody said Michelle had stormed out, she picked him up earlier from a job site and was in a good mood, but when they got home her mood changed and she complained about the fact that Cody missed days of school and that Mark Vickers wasn't working. Cody said Michelle was drinking from a green bottle of what he referred to as dry martini and she just stood there and drank out of the bottle while they argued. After she'd finished the bottle, she grabbed her purse and a black book and according to Cody, quote, she slammed the door saying, quote me, fuck you's all.

She was having one of her freakouts, I wasn't going to argue with her. He added that he thought she'd just left again like she'd been doing lately, quote, she just abandoned me and found some boyfriend or something to go and run away with. According to Cody, he and his girlfriend had just broken up, so the next day he decided to stay home from school again. He then got worried about his mother, so he messaged around his friends to see if any of them had seen her. But this wasn't the only story Cody told while being interviewed by police.

In a later version, Cody said he was scared of his uncle, Mark Vickers, adding that he was afraid to say anything about it previously. But now he was opening up, telling police that Mark told him to lie and say he was out of town during the period that Michelle was murdered, even though he'd actually been at the house the whole time. Cody said that what actually happened was that he'd gone to sleep while Michelle was downstairs on the computer in the same room as Mark who was watching TV. The next morning, Cody said he woke up to find Mark still watching TV, but his mother

was not there. Cody said he smelled a lot of bleach and that Mark had instructed him to tell police the story he ended up telling about his mom storming out of the house after an argument never to be seen again. Cody told police that after Michelle went missing, Mark had stopped his truck at a bridge location near Oshawa. He saw the man go to his truck and take a long item wrapped in a sheet out of the trunk and then throw it into the river.

Cody told the police that he didn't ask Mark what was in the sheet because he was scared. Quote, I'm scared of him because he's a scary, intimidating person. The officer questioning him, Detective Constable Jody Elbert, replied, I see you saying he's a scary, intimidating person, but you're smiling. Cody replied that he was just getting annoyed because it seemed like the officer was getting increasingly mad at him. She said she was just trying to get to the truth before asking Cody if he thought his mom was still alive.

His reply, quote, I'd like to think so. Cody took the police to the same bridge that he said Mark Vickers threw the gun into the water. The police searched the river and found a .22 caliber rifle, a trigger lock and possibly a leg from a telescope. Later, the police found the key to the trigger lock. Cody told a variety of other stories about what he'd done in the days before and after his mother's disappearance, often changing details.

He had no alibi to back up any of his claims. When asked if he believed that his mother may have been murdered and what kind of person would do it, Cody replied, quote, someone who was crazy and unstable. He went on to describe several of Michelle's ex-boyfriends, adding that one was crazy and that he believed he might kidnap his mom. Michelle's two sisters, Nina and Lisa, told the court that when the police seized the family computer, their 14-year-old nephew got angry and stormed out of the house in a rage.

Cody's girlfriend was brought into the station for questioning which enraged Cody even more. He called his aunt, saying, they've gone too far, I'm going to kill them all. When Nina asked him what he meant, he said the police had taken his girlfriend, adding that Michelle had wanted to take her away from him. He stated that his girlfriend had nothing to do with this and, quote, when they come out, I'm taking one down with me. Cody saw a child and youth worker at the custody facility in Oshawa where he was taken after he was arrested.

The youth worker sat with him for just over an hour. As they were sitting there and the youth worker was taking notes, he said Cody looked up from watching TV and suddenly said, quote, have you ever imagined your mom's brains splattered all over the wall? The youth worker said to the jury that she was a bit rattled and simply answered, no. She asserted that Cody had been making a statement, not asking a question. The night of the murder, cell phone evidence showed how Michelle's last use of her cell phone was at 7.54pm.

According to the family's computer records and witness testimony, Michelle was still alive and logged into her account at 9pm that night. Her sister Lisa said that they had chatted using an instant messenger program around this time, with Michelle confiding that she was fighting with Cody about his absence from school. Cody had announced to his mom that he wanted to quit school and get a job. After Lisa offered some advice, Michelle ended the conversation with her sister by saying she had to go and get back to the argument she'd been having with Cody, quote, I have

to go deal with this. This is getting stupid, bye, I love you. That was at 9.08pm, Michelle logged off. Just 32 minutes later, Cody logged on and sent an email to his girlfriend, telling her how much he loved her and that he was going to go away for a while. He insisted that she had nothing to do with why he was leaving. In court, the lawyers argued back and forth about whether this email was written and sent before or after his mother's death.

If it was sent before, it only gave Cody 32 minutes to beat and shoot his mom, wrap up her body with a towel and the tarp, drag it outside and bury it in the backyard before heading back in to email his girlfriend. The defence said that this email to Cody's girlfriend was his way of saying he'd merely witnessed his mother's murder by Mark Vickers, but the crown said the opposite. They suggested that the email represented an admission from Cody and the timing of the email sent, combined with the backyard digging that the neighbours witnessed in the days beforehand, were concrete evidence that Michelle's murder was premeditated.

An hour after the first email was sent, Cody sent his girlfriend another email, saying quote, whatever you hear about me or the place I live doesn't mean I'm gone. I will not die and I will have you back one day. I will take you away if that's what you want. I'll always love you. Later on that night, at around 2.30 in the morning, the previous user ID named Michelle was deleted and the next day a profile called Mark was created. Cody's cell phone records were analysed and compared against others in the family circle.

Police mapped out a conversation between Cody and his aunt Lisa, Michelle's sister, that happened sometime around the time his mother was murdered. Lisa sent a text to Cody on June 2, four days after Michelle went missing, saying, I'm in no way, shape or form mad at you. I'm just very sorry and I want to protect you as much as I can. Cody replied, quote, fucking pigs brought my girlfriend into this, that's too far. His aunt advised Cody to chill, but Cody replied that he wasn't going to, this wasn't right and his girlfriend had nothing to do with it.

On June the 11th, Cody texted to his aunt that he wanted to talk with the police. Later on that day, he texted that he wanted to talk to the head guy of the investigation. Lisa said she contacted them and they were on their way. Lisa asked Cody if Mark knew about any of this. Cody replied that no he didn't and he planned to keep it that way. The next day, the day Cody got arrested on the school bus, he asked to speak with his aunt Lisa again. Lisa said that when she first arrived at the detachment, Cody kept hugging her and saying,

I didn't do it. She thought that he was crying, quote, when I was holding him, I could feel him hitching. When we pulled away and I looked at him, I remember thinking, but you're not crying. There were no tears. Lisa said that they hugged again later in that visit and Cody whispered something alarming in her ear, quote, she just kept screaming at me. So I picked up the gun and I shot her and when she wouldn't stop screaming at me, I shot her again.

He said that Michelle wanted to take him away from his girlfriend. Lisa said she felt like this confession was part of a surreal experience that didn't make any sense. She drove away to find a lawyer and said she stopped twice to throw up. Forensic evidence showed that blood containing Michelle's DNA was found on the sides and tops of Cody's sneakers. This was presented from the autopsy of Michelle's body by Ontario Chief Forensic Pathologist Dr. Michael Pollanen, who would go on to consult on the autopsies from the Andrea Giesbrecht

case featured in episodes 22 and 23 of this podcast. Dr. Pollanen said that because Michelle's body had been buried for two weeks, it was in an advanced state of decomposition. Because of this, it was hard to determine whether some of Michelle's injuries had occurred before or after her death, for example the gunshot wounds. Dr. Pollanen told the jury that he was able to determine that other injuries had been inflicted before death, like blunt force trauma to the back of the head because it showed evidence of bleeding and also Michelle had a severely injured right arm which was consistent

with self-defence. Dr. Pollanen went on to testify that there were seven distinct gunshot wounds to the head, in the forehead, right side of the face, left side close to the temple and behind the right ear. Some bullet fragments were still in the brain. The doctor said he couldn't determine the sequence of when the bullets entered her first or how far away the shots came from. A forensic toxicologist told the jury that there were no illegal drugs found in Michelle's

body, including cocaine and marijuana. The toxicologist said that that didn't mean they weren't used, but they certainly weren't used very recently or frequently. The court heard testimony of the various objects and items that police found during their searches of the house, like a tarp, blanket and comforter used to wrap Michelle's body, along with the ropes and bungee cords that had been used to secure the wrappings. That was the same kind of bungee cord found in the truck owned by Mark Vickers. The court heard testimony from an employee from Rental City, a company that leases or

provides home furnishings and appliances with a rent-to-own agreement. They said that they removed a washing machine, sofa and love seat from the Concession Street house on June 7th, 2008, 10 days after Michelle went missing, but before Cody and Mark were arrested. The rental employee noticed that Mark seemed like he was desperate to get rid of the items, hastily taking one door completely off its hinges so a sofa could be removed quickly. The witness also noted there was a teenage couple in the driveway of the house. The police found small blood stains on a lamp and the walls that were found to contain Michelle's

DNA. These were found near where the couch lay before it was removed by the rental company. And later, the police located and seized the furniture that was removed from the house and found more blood spatter containing Michelle's DNA. Bottles of cleaning fluids were also found all around the house, but strangely, police said they didn't find any evidence of a blood clean-up having taken place on the floor, even when they used the chemical that reacts to blood. They went on to say that either blood was never present on the floor, possibly because

something was blocking the floor like a carpet or tarp, or the other option was that the mess could have been cleaned thoroughly afterwards, but the officer said that that was unlikely too because the chemical they used to detect blood also reacts with bleach and so any use of bleach would have been detected. With this, the crown had finished presenting its evidence. Once the crown and Cody's trial had presented its evidence, it was time for the defence, led by his lawyer, Howard Goldkind. Now age 16, Cody took to the stand to defend himself.

He would be the only one of the two accused who would. The public still didn't know his name because of the publication ban. They still only knew that he was the teenage son of the deceased. The media continued to refer to him as the youth or the teen. Cody testified that he'd been bullied greatly in school, saying it was because his father had left when he was seven and he'd had problems getting grip of his thoughts and feelings. He said that his schools had seen the conflict between he and his mother and had attempted to intervene and provide counselling for them.

However, he said Michelle rarely followed up on the calls or showed up to school for meetings. Cody testified about what he witnessed the night Michelle went missing and what would be a new version of the story. Michelle was angry that he'd skipped school, but according to Cody, the argument got worse when Mark announced he'd quit his job and wasn't planning on getting another one. The argument then transferred from Cody and Michelle to Mark and Michelle. Cody said he went upstairs to take a shower where he could still hear the fight going

on. Quote, I kept hearing them yelling. I heard my mum say, what the fuck? Then I heard her screaming. Then I heard four pops and rapid succession. Cody said he then heard his mother calling his name. In cross-examination, the crown prosecutor suggested to Cody that a forensic pathologist had testified that a person would not be calling out a name after being shot in the head three

times. Quote, I put it to you, your mum did cry out at one point in time. She cried out when you were beating her with the rifle. Cody replied, I respectfully disagree. Cody said that he ran downstairs and when he opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, he saw his mother lying on the floor and Mark standing in the kitchen holding a gun. Quote, I threw my arms up in the air and kind of fell to the ground. I put my arms over my head.

I thought he was going to shoot me too. He then said Mark walked over to him and said, Quote, I'm really sorry, buddy. I didn't want to do this. He kept saying that he loved her and just couldn't take this shit anymore. Cody went on to say that Mark told him that if he wanted to live, he had to do as he was told and not tell anyone what happened. And if he told anyone, he would likely wind up dead. Cody told the court he was forced to help Mark clean up the blood in the house and bury

his mum, adding that he refused to help wrap up or move his mother's dead body. Cody said that Mark made him help ditch Michelle's car off a rural roadway and delete her computer access profile before taking off to go stay in Brampton and salvage some sort of alibi. And because Cody said he was scared after that, he didn't tell anyone what happened. Cody testified that the day before his arrest, he asked to speak to the police to tell the truth about Michelle's death, even though what he told them wasn't the truth. As for the confession he whispered to his Aunt Lisa, Cody said he only told her because she hadn't believed him when he said he was innocent and he needed her to help him get

a lawyer. Quote, I said fine, I did it. I figured she was the only person who could help me. Cody stated that he did not kill his mother and wasn't in any way responsible for her death. He insisted that the witness statements regarding his arguments with Michelle over his serious relationship with his girlfriend were incorrect. This examination by the Crown went over the computer records from the night Michelle went

missing. She signed off Emerson Messenger at 9.08pm and at 9.40pm, Cody logged on and sent the first of the two emails to his girlfriend. Cody said that he sent the email after his mother had been shot, the grave dug, the body buried, the house cleaned and the story concocted about Michelle storming off. The Crown asked Cody if he was suggesting that all of that happened in just 32 minutes. It must have, he replied. Cody said that Mark Vickers was standing behind him when he emailed his girlfriend, making

sure he didn't say too much. The Crown attorney showed record of a 10 minute call to Mark's sister in Brampton which was made at the same time that Cody sent the first email and suggested to Cody that it was Mark Vickers on the phone. Okay, said Cody. I suggest to you sir that your mum wasn't dead yet. Okay. Do you agree or disagree?

I disagree. Cody was reminded that a neighbour previously testified saying they heard a gunshot at 10.45pm, almost an hour after the first email was sent to Cody's girlfriend. Quote, if the emails were sent before your mother was killed, that's a whole different story. It would suggest you knew that was going to happen. Timing is very important. The Crown brought up the fact that Cody lied to the police by telling multiple stories

about what had happened. Cody replied that it was because of his uncle's threat to kill him or blame the murder on him. The Crown brought up that in several police interviews, Cody said he had a good relationship with Mark and then proceeded to call his mother names like Crack-Haw. Cody was asked if he believed the things he said. Cody replied that he didn't believe his mother was a Crack-Haw. The claims of abandonment were a lie and that he'd exaggerated her drinking and drug dealing.

Quote, I was told to make her look bad, to discredit her and to make her look like the kind of person who would run away. I knew she had dealt marijuana from time to time. I exaggerated by saying all the time and added in other drugs. In closing arguments at Cody's trial, defence lawyer Howard Goldkind asked the jury to find him innocent. Quote, a terrible tragedy occurred. Do not compound that by convicting an innocent boy.

He suggested that Mark Vickers played the role of a father figure to Cody, which could have led to him having influence over the boy. He reiterated how Michelle's sister Lisa described Mark as a beaten dog, adding his own suggestion that Mark was unable to take the verbal assaults from Michelle any longer, so retrieved his gun and shot her in the living room. The defence said that Cody is nothing but a lost soul that had to grow up in a household where his mother was rarely around, sometimes gone for days at a time, while she socialised with friends.

He painted the picture of an absent mother, who had a fierce temper and lots of arguments with Cody and Mark Vickers. The defence queried what possible motivation could there be for Cody to concoct such a diabolical plan. Cody's lawyer reiterated the reasons Cody said he lied to police, because he was scared, and that his lack of emotion in both his police interviews and on the stand resulted from years of being verbally abused. Crown prosecutor Nancy Ray painted a horrific picture of a boy attacking his mother from

behind, beating her viciously and then running to get his landlord's gun. While his mother was still conscious, he pulled the trigger so many times that the gun would have to be reloaded. Once she was deceased, he dragged her body outside and into the premade grave. He then covered it up with dirt and metal sheeting before going inside to clean up the blood there. Cody had blood on his shoe, lied to police, confessed to his aunt, said horrible things about his mother and kept changing his story about what happened the night she was murdered,

and this was all evidence of his guilt. The Crown added that the animosity between Cody and his mother had been growing thanks to their frequent arguments over chores and missing school, and that was a powerful motive for killing her. The evidence pointed to the fact that the crime was planned and deliberate and organized cover-up, according to the Crown. In closing arguments in Mark Vickers' trial, the defense lawyer Gary McNally's focus was to raise reasonable doubt about the evidence presented by the Crown that showed Mark's

participation in the cover-up of the crime. His lawyer said that it couldn't have been Mark who committed the murder, as he can't stand the sight of blood, although he did admit that there was a lot of tension in the home thanks to unpaid bills and unfinished chores. He also presented evidence about Mark's timid, mild and meek nature, which had been confirmed by Michelle's family members. The jury were told how Mark Vickers had been abused most of his childhood, with his father beating him for no reason.

And this abuse had left Mark as a damaged man. Quote, you see before you a man who is the product of that environment. This is a tragedy in all ways. The defense painted a picture of Mark being forced to cover up a horrific crime. He said it made no sense that Mark would plot and carry out Michelle's murder. Quote, Mark could move. Mark could kick her out. Why kill her?

Crown Attorney David Thompson counted that while Cody may have fired the final shots, Mark was a party to the killing and active participant. It was Mark's .22 caliber rifle. He had advised Cody on how to use it, and he disposed of the gun afterwards. Quote, this was a planned and deliberate murder. What he didn't do, he failed to stop an ongoing assault and murder. He reloaded the gun, he failed to stop what was going on, he failed to flee, he stayed on the property, he assisted in the cover up.

He had the measure by truck or by phone, but he failed to get help. He was a partner in crime. At the end of Mark Vickers trial, the jury took four days to deliberate his charge of first degree murder. They returned with a guilty verdict. They believed the Crown's theory that Mark helped plan and conceal Michelle's murder. Even if he wasn't responsible for the act himself, Mark was still a full participant in the crime.

After the verdict, Michelle's loved ones read their victim impact statements regarding Mark. They described him as a shy, damaged man who they had welcomed into their family when he was in a relationship with Michelle's sister Nina. Michelle's mother, Mary Ann, quote, I invited you into the family, giving you the mum seal of approval. You crushed me, Mark. I want you to know I have closed my heart and my door to you forever.

Goodbye, Mark. The court was told that Mark Vickers had once been convicted for theft and several break-in enters before he was in the long-term relationship with Michelle's sister Nina. Mark Vickers was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. The judge said the murder of Michelle Barnoski was an act of sustained and vicious savagery. In Cody's trial, the jury had an easier time making its decision and delivered its verdict less than 24 hours later. Cody Barnoski was found guilty of the first-degree murder of his mother.

Michelle Barnoski's mother, Mary Ann, told the reporters she was relieved the result was a guilty verdict for her grandson. She said although it won't bring her daughter back, the system worked in order to bring justice to the killer. Quote, I can't imagine her last moments knowing that the one she loved most in the world was murdering her. That scene haunts me every day and night. About Cody himself, she added, it's not what he did, it's what he told us afterwards that's

destroyed everything between he and I. Michelle's sisters gave their victim impact statements to the media. Older sister Lisa described the tragedy as, an unforgivable act of cold-blooded murder by a nephew she once loved very much. She said she had nightmares of Michelle's last moments when she realized her baby, her reason for getting up in the morning, was going to kill her. Quote, if he had just stopped at one shot, she would have sewn herself up and no one would have known.

She would forgive him even that. Michelle's younger sister Nina said that she'd lost the family she knew and worried for their safety in the future, asking the judge to protect them as long as possible when sentencing Cody. She then turned to Cody and said, I'm sorry I can't stand before the court and beg for mercy for you. I can only ask the court for as much mercy as you showed her, which was none. Cody's defense lawyer told the press that, quote, there's no winners here.

This lady is deceased, her son is locked up. Both sides of the family are not speaking to each other. My heart goes out to the grandparents. During the pre-sentencing hearing, a social worker who was assigned to Cody when he was first arrested and charged said that in his opinion, Cody is a very disturbed young man and that his unstable upbringing likely contributed to him having difficulty in expressing emotion. The social worker went on to say that his observation was that Cody was very flat and did not cry when he talked about his mother being murdered.

Cody needed intensive treatment, without which he would be at high risk to commit another offence. So Cody had been tried as a youth offender, but the sentencing hearing would determine whether he would be sentenced as a youth or adult. There are many differences between these. If Cody was sentenced as a youth for first degree murder, he would be given ten years with six of those years in custody and then four in community supervision. He would leave with no criminal record and wouldn't be required to have additional supervision

after his ten years. On the other hand, if Cody was given an adult sentence for first degree murder, this would put him on the same level as Mark, with a longer sentence and parole eligibility period and the requirement of lifetime monitoring along with the criminal record he would have for the remainder of his life. This time it was revealed that in 2007, just a year before his mother's murder, Cody had a previous conviction for assault with a weapon when he went to school and held a knife to a student's throat.

The crown asked for Cody to be sentenced as an adult, saying he'd failed to take responsibility for the crime and his previous conviction showed that he had a propensity for violence. During the sentencing hearing, Cody's maternal grandmother, Michelle's mother, begged for an adult sentence. She and Michelle's two sisters described the murder as unforgivable and cold-blooded and spoke about Cody's lack of remorse. But Cody's paternal grandmother, his father's mother, said the opposite. Sharon Barnoski and her husband Richard had attended all Cody's court appearances and

visited him every week in the detention facility. Sharon asked for a youth sentence, admitting that she and other family members had failed Cody and they hoped it wouldn't happen again. She said that Cody's childhood was marred by a father with a history of drug and alcohol abuse, an emotionally crippled mother, and an unstable home situation that had been riddled with conflict. As Cody's grandmother looked at him, she said, quote, I think all of us failed you in one way or another and we paid dearly for our failure.

Michelle paid the highest price of all. She told the court that they loved Cody. We still love him very much. Only now did Cody show his first glimpse of remorse. In his final invitation to the court, he said in a soft, trembling voice, quote, I'd like to say I'm sorry to everyone involved for the lies I've told and for the pain I've caused. If I could take it all back, I would. The judge decided that Cody Barnoski would be sentenced as an adult for his first degree

murder conviction. This meant that the publication ban was lifted immediately and the media could report his name. Cody was given life with no possibility of parole for seven years and would spend the first two years in a youth facility. The judge noted some family members feared for their safety, reassuring them that once Cody is released from prison, he will remain under parole supervision for the remainder of his days.

In his sentencing comments, the judge called Cody a tragically misguided and disturbed youth. In 2015, Cody, then age 20, appeared in Lindsay Superior Court of Justice before Judge Alex Sosner. His lawyers speculated that he be moved from Sprucedale Youth Centre to a federal medium security prison, Joyceville Institution in Kingston. The judge noted that Cody has made positive and encouraging advances while at the youth centre.

He also made note that Michelle's family members wanted him sent to a maximum facility so that they can feel safer and added that he does not discount those fears and concerns. The judge said that he would support the recommendation for Cody to move but that it was ultimately up to the board. And this was the last we heard in the media about anything related to this case. Cody Barnoski is now 23. According to his sentence, he was eligible to apply for parole in 2017. Mark Vickers is now in his early 40s and will be eligible for parole at around age 16.

Thanks for listening. There's a lot to unpack with this case, so if you wanted to discuss it more, come and join me in the Facebook Discussion Group. Just go to Facebook and search for Canadian True Crime Discussion Group. As always, a huge thanks to my amazing moderators for helping me out. Catherine and Karen, Kim and Maggie. This episode I have two podcast recommendations and they are both perfect if you like scary stories from talented writers.

Here's promos for pleasing terrors and west side fairy tales. Some stories were never supposed to be told. Stories that exist in the twilight between science and the supernatural. Between history and the horror. Stories that speak of terrifying things. Stories that you want to hear. Stories that you need to hear. Stories that will sink their teeth in and never let you go.

My name is Mike Brown. Join me on a journey through the shadows of history. The pleasing terrors podcast weaves true stories of history and true crime with folklore and the paranormal. But be warned, there are no sweet dreams here. Only nightmares. From hostile alien worlds where creeping red fungus drives men to madness, to the simple insanity of living an unfulfilling domestic life, we at the west side fairy tales have

written a horror story for you. Yes, you, dear listener. We know all about you, what makes you nervous, what makes you sick with anxiety, what keeps you from leaving your house sometimes for the maddening worry of it, and we've put it in a story. A story we'll read for you. Catch the latest in Tyler Bell's ongoing horror and dark fiction anthology, the west side fairy tales, the first Friday of every month anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Learn more at westsidefairytales.com. I really hope that you'll be able to check those two out. It's west side fairy tales and pleasing terrors. A massive thanks to everyone who's left a good review on Apple podcasts or your app or my Facebook page. It really helps the show. To receive an early ad-free version of my episodes, it costs just $2 a month on Patreon. A massive thank you to all of these patrons.

Johanna L, Ethan P, Vicky G, Nathan M, Carly, Amanda B, Kalina T, Amanda M, and Mike Brown from the Dark Poutine podcast, another true crime podcast from Canada that you should definitely check out. This episode of the Canadian True Crime podcast was researched and written by Noelle, Sia, and me, with additional consultation from Anna Priestland. Audio production was from Eric Crosby. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime story. See you then.