Taylor Trial Day 2: CJ Fowler’s stepfather takes the stand

Sep 29, 2015 | 4:34 PM

Day two of the Damien Taylor trial continued today at B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops. Taylor, now 22-years-old, is facing a second-degree murder charge, accused of killing CJ Fowler in the early morning hours of December 5, 2012. Her body was discovered by a dog walker near Guerin Creek. Today, one of Fowler’s family members spoke, lending more insight into the events that led to the 16 year-old girl’s death.

CJ Fowler’s stepfather, Glen Wilson, took the stand today at B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops. Wilson remembers how “inseparable” Fowler and Taylor were at times during their 11-month relationship and he still doesn’t understand why they “split up at the hospital” on the night of December 4, hours before her death. 

The couple stayed with Wilson in Terrace and “were really, really good.” Wilson says “they listened, they did their chores, they never went out and drank.”
    
But Wilson says when Fowler’s close friend Chyna Samson came to Terrace to visit, things changed. Fowler and Taylor were different, more rebellious. That prompted Wilson to ask Samson to leave town, but Fowler and Taylor followed her on a bus trip to Kamloops.

Wilson remembers feeling that “something wasn’t right.” He says Samson wouldn’t let Fowler use her phone, and then on the night of December 4 when Wilson wanted to check up on his daughter, Samson told him she was “complaining about breathing.” 

During cross examination today, Wilson testified that Fowler texted him saying Samson forced her to smoke crystal meth, with “something else in there.” Thereafter, Fowler complained of chest pains, had a hard time breathing, and twice went Royal Inland Hospital. It was then when she learned she was pregnant. 

A short time later, feeling intimidated and scared, Fowler texted her dad wanting to go home. Wilson bought both Fowler and Taylor a bus ticket back to Terrace, scheduled to leave at noon on December 5. Fowler never made it home. 

The trial continues tomorrow at B.C. Supreme Court.