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Norman Larue and Christina Asp

Murder trial hears description of man's demise

Two more covert recordings were presented to the jury at the Norman Larue murder trial Wednesday.

By Ashley Joannou on May 30, 2013

Two more covert recordings were presented to the jury at the Norman Larue murder trial Wednesday.

They included a video tape of Larue's former girlfriend detailing how she says the pair beat Gordon Seybold to death.

In an Edmonton penthouse apartment near the end of February 2009, Christina Asp sits with a woman she believes is the leader of a powerful crime family which has accepted her into its ranks.

In fact, they are all undercover police officers.

It is a critical moment after a month's worth of undercover police work targeting Asp.

The scenarios have all been building up to the meeting with the powerful woman who Asp has been told can cover up any problem from the police.

On the recording, Asp sits on a couch while the undercover officer — whose identity is protected by a court order — is seen in the corner of the screen.

The boss makes it clear to Asp she can help, "But let's be clear that it's my decision, and I'm going to base my decision on what we should do on our conversation here today.”

Asp describes how both she and her boyfriend had taken off from halfway houses and were on the run in the Yukon.

"…my Mom had some disputes with this guy that … it had a lot to do with drugs and stuff like that,” she says on the recording.

"And she talked personally with my boyfriend then, and I really don't know what was said between them but he asked if I knew the directions. So I took him there, and got there pretty much a big beef started.”

Seybold had a large marijuana grow operation on his property in the Ibex Valley when it burned to the ground with human remains inside in March 2008. That was nearly a year before the undercover video was taken.

Asp tells the crime boss "there was lots fighting, uhm, bats coming out of everywhere and, well one bat, anyways.”

She describes how, during the fighting, "this other guy almost got the best of my boyfriend and I was there to be, to have his back. Make sure nothing went wrong, like to him,” she says.

Asp says she hit Seybold "a few times in the head.”

Larue burned the house down, she says.

After hearing the story, the boss tells Asp the family's police sources are saying Asp and Larue are the only suspects in the case.

"So you have a problem, for sure,” she says.

The undercover officer questions Asp on exactly what motivated the pair to show up at Seybold's cabin.

"It's pretty much a request to my mom,” she says.

In the video, Asp says her mother probably suspects what happened, but they don't talk about it.

While Asp was being recorded by the undercover officers, Larue was in jail. He would be released months later.

The pair was eventually arrested in Stathmore, Alta., in August 2009.

On the tape, the officer presses Asp for more details on the attack.

"…So this starts as a first fight does it or is a ....” the syndicate leader asks.

"First fights,” Asp responds.

"The bat come into it right away?” questions the officer.

"Ah, the bat comes in just after, like maybe about 10, 10, 15 minutes, 15 minutes of fist-fighting,” Asp says.

"Yeah. And were you involved in that?” asks the boss.

"The fist-fight, no,” is the response.

Asp describes how the fighting pair fell over and Seybold appeared to get the upper hand, so she hit him in the head with the bat.

She tells the officer that once Larue regained the upper hand, she gave him the weapon.

"So he kinda, I gave him the bat and he started swinging,” she says.

"Yeah,” responds the undercover officer.

"And pretty much did him pretty much in, because this guy was a little bit, ah, unrecognizable, I guess,” Asp says.

Larue asked her to leave, so she doesn't know how he started the fire, she says.

They later burned all their clothes.

The crime boss would eventually direct Asp and a group of undercover officers to go to the Yukon as part of a re-enactment of the crime, the jury has heard.

The recording was stopped about halfway through. The day ended early because one of the 13 remaining jurors was not feeling well.

Christina Asp has not testified in this case. She has already been convicted for her role in Seybold's death.

She was called to the stand earlier this month but refused to answer questions.

Justice Scott Brooker has made an exception in this case, permitting the jury to hear the recordings without Asp being present.

The jury also heard a second recording Wednesday — this one just audio — taken earlier in the investigation prior to meeting with the crime boss.

Asp is sitting in a car with the woman who would become her closest friend during the investigation.

The two bonded after the undercover officer "confessed” she had committed a murder but her uncle (also an undercover police officer) had taken the fall.

On the tape, Asp calls that "honourable” and a sign of "true family.”

She tells her new friend she doesn't believe the police have anything connecting her or Larue to the Seybold murder.

She says Larue has already been in contact with lawyers.

"Lawyers are smarter than cops, that's for sure,” the undercover officer laughs.

Comments (1)

Up 0 Down 0

Joe on Jan 11, 2018 at 8:43 am

Norman, a trained fighter, was losing a fight to a 60 year old? And the court bought that from a woman already admittedly (said she had to manipulate all her life). Think about it?! Nobody came to his defence. This man is a trained fighter!!

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