TORONTO -- It was during a teary conversation with her pastor that a woman who is now accused of killing her stepdaughter said the girl "died like a dog" after being starved, beaten and locked in a room, a Toronto court heard Tuesday.
Elaine Biddersingh, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Melonie, made the key disclosure to Rev. Eduardo Cruz, who later went to police, giving them a much needed break in the case.
"Her words were she was not fed, she was not given medical attention, she was not given anything," Cruz told Biddersingh's trial. "She died like a dog. Those were her words, she died like a dog."
Melonie's body was found in a burning suitcase in an industrial parking lot north of Toronto in 1994, but her identity remained a mystery until Cruz's conversation with Biddersingh at a St. Catharines, Ont., church in November 2011.
Melonie's father, Everton Biddersingh, was found guilty in January of first-degree murder in his daughter's death, but jurors at the current trial have been instructed to disregard that conviction as "completely irrelevant" to the case before them.
Court heard that Elaine Biddersingh, her husband, and two sons had been members of Cruz's congregation for about a year at that point, with the church helping them financially and emotionally as the family was very poor.
"I did everything I could to help this family," Cruz said. "I try to counsel them, try to help them economically."
One day, Biddersingh lingered around the church until most others had left and then asked to speak with Cruz alone about something important, he recalled.
Cruz asked Biddersingh's husband to leave and then, left alone with the pastor, Biddersingh started to cry, the trial heard.
Biddersingh told Cruz about how Melonie had come from Jamaica to live with her father and stepmother in Toronto, court heard. She told the pastor Melonie was deprived of food and water, and confined to a room, he said.
Cruz said Biddersingh told him about one instance where she tried to give her stepdaughter food but was caught by her husband and beaten for doing so.
"She told me (Melonie) was ill, very thin," Cruz said, adding that Biddersingh also told him about her husband beating Melonie. "She said that the girl was kept locked in a room."
Biddersingh then told Cruz that Melonie was found dead in the family apartment in 1994, court heard.
Biddersingh did not call police, or call for an ambulance, saying there was no phone in the home at the time, Cruz said.
"She didn't call anybody," Cruz said. "She just told me they found the girl dead in the room. She didn't tell me 'I was upset or not upset."'
Biddersingh did, however, tell Cruz how Melonie's body ended up in a suitcase, court heard.
"Elaine said; 'I was watching a commercial on TV and I saw a commercial for luggage and I turned around and spoke to Everton and said let's put her in the luggage,"' Cruz recounted.
"The conversation I had with her is fresh in my mind."
Biddersingh then told Cruz that she, her husband and a stepson drove to a rural area with the suitcase containing Melonie's body, where the luggage was set on fire while she sat in the car.
After hearing Biddersingh's story, Cruz said he told the woman he would have to go to the police.
"I said 'what you're telling me is very serious and I need to know if it's the truth,"' Cruz recalled. "She said 'pastor, it's 100 per cent true."'
The trial heard that a few days later, Cruz and Biddersingh met with police, who asked Biddersingh if she felt she was in danger at home.
"She said 'no, I'm not afraid,' and she said 'no I'm not in danger,"' Cruz recalled.
Biddersingh and her husband were arrested in 2012 after a DNA test confirmed Melonie's identity.
The trial has heard from a Crown prosecutor that Biddersingh was the "mastermind" behind horrific physical and emotional abuse suffered by Melonie, while her husband was the enforcer.
