Kidnapper Disputes Victims Testimony

A New Brunswick man accused of kidnapping a woman has said he knew her previously, contrary to the woman’s testimony that she had no idea who he was.

The woman, who cannot be named, said she was abducted at knifepoint on February 26 2010 in the parking lot of a mall by Romeo Cormier, 63, held captive in his house for a month and repeatedly sexually assaulted.

During his opening testimony Cormier offered a different story. He said he knew the woman and they had been acquaintances.  Cormier said that he first met the woman in 1993 in Newfoundland and that on the night of the incident, they were planning on killing her husband together.

The judge presiding over the case has instructed the jury to ignore much of Cormier’s testimony.  The jury was told to focus on Cormier’s statement that he had met the woman before the incident.

Cormier’s testimony directly contradicts the woman’s story. The crown finished their case against Cormier on Friday.