The search for the body of a slain Calgary woman after her son repeatedly confessed to killing her was swift, the officer who found the victim testified Thursday.
Officer's Testimony
Const. Felipe Fontan said he was tasked with looking for Alice (Jingying) Ai's body shortly after arriving on scene near the Foothills Medical Centre. Emergency services had been dispatched to 29th Street near Hospital Drive N.W. on June 30, 2023.
Fontan told Crown prosecutor Vicki Faulkner that when he parked, his acting sergeant approached with a barefoot male, whose bloodied hands were handcuffed. The sergeant's vehicle lacked a partition between front and back seats, so the suspect had to be placed in Fontan's police cruiser.
"At that point, I left the location of my vehicle … and I went to look for the mother," Fontan said. "On the east side across the street from us there's some residential area. We started looking between the houses."
Fontan began his search at about 3:36 a.m., a minute after arriving. "Constable, did you locate the victim?" Faulkner asked. "Yes I did." "From the time you commenced your search to the time you located the victim, how much time did that take?" "It was at 3:38 a.m. I located her," Fontan said.
Discovery of the Body
Alex (Aixin) Xu is charged with second-degree murder in the June 30, 2023 death of his mother, who it's believed was repeatedly bludgeoned with a large rock found at the scene. Fontan said that at the conclusion of his two-minute search, he found Ai in an area between two homes on 29th Street.
"I saw that she was lying face down on the ground," he said. "She was not moving anymore and she had an injury to her head." The officer noted the area was poorly lit and he needed to use his flashlight. Fontan said the woman was not breathing and when emergency medical services arrived a little more than 10 minutes later, they provided no medical intervention.
The trial continues on Friday.
