Evidence from the spot where Evangeline Billy's body was found in 2008 gave investigators some idea of what happened to the 24-year-old Carmacks woman before she was dumped in the Yukon River, but didn't answer the question of who killed her.

Alicia Murphy, 29, is charged with killing Billy. The Yukon Supreme Court trial began Tuesday, with Justice Ron Veale presiding.

Whitehorse RCMP were called to the banks of the river at the foot of Wood Street at midday on June 22, 2008, court heard.

There, they found Billy's lifeless body floating face-down in the water, caught up against the wooden pilings once used to tie up the sternwheelers as they dropped off and picked up goods from the nearby roundhouse.

Except for her socks and a single shoe, she was naked from the waist down.

A path of disturbed ground – described as a "drag trail” by homicide investigator Sgt. Mark London – was visible through the grass and dead leaves and led from the water to a large pool of blood further up the bank.

A woman's shoe, an empty cooler bottle, a discarded can of Extra Old Stock, a couple of lighters, a tube of Chapstick and several fresh Export A cigarette butts littered the surrounding area.

Police photographed a partial footprint left in the mud and collected samples of blood and human feces found in the area.

Investigators spent more than four hours combing the area before they removed Billy's body from the cold river.

She was placed on her back on a white sheet. London described seeing an ugly gash on the left side of her head, along the hairline. The wound was so deep, he said, he could see the skull and what he believed was brain matter.

Her left cheek was scratched and swollen; there was blood around the deceased woman's mouth and nose, the sergeant told the court.

London said he originally assumed Billy was killed by a blow to the head, but later learned from a pathologist's report she died of drowning.

None of the evidence collected by police that day connected Murphy, to Billy's murder, Crown prosecutor Noel Sinclair explained during his opening remarks Tuesday.

There was no circumstantial evidence, he said, such as DNA or fingerprints left by Murphy. Nor are there any eyewitnesses to the alleged crime, he said.

What the Crown does have, Sinclair promised, is testimony from two people, including Murphy's sister, who heard Murphy confess to killing Billy shortly after her body was found.

"The police were already on the trail when she made the statements,” Sinclair told the seven men and five women who make up the jury.

The jury will also hear from two witnesses who were involved in the crime scene after Billy was dead, he said. Those witnesses will give their evidence later this week or early next week.

Murphy was arrested the day after Billy's body was discovered. She has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

The Crown's case was stalled for several hours this morning when one of the jurors raised a possible conflict.

The male juror is married to a probation officer. He did not see a problem with the connection to the Justice department Tuesday when the jury was selected, he said, but after giving it some thought, he figured he should bring it to the court's attention.

Justice Veale asked if he had ever discussed the case or any of the people involved with his wife. He said he had not.

Repeating the question posed to every potential jury yesterday, Veale asked if there was anything that would prejudice the juror in giving Murphy a fair trial.

He said there was not. Both sides agreed the man could remain on the jury.

The trial is scheduled to last three weeks.