Medical examiner rules out rod as weapon that killed woman at Edmonton hotel

EDMONTON -- A medical examiner says a metal rod found at an Edmonton hotel where a woman bled to death could not have caused her fatal wound.

Bradley Barton, an Ontario truck driver on trial for manslaughter, is accused of killing 36-year-old Cindy Gladue at the Yellowhead Inn in 2011.

Under cross-examination, Dr. Graeme Dowling told the jury that the rod could have made a puncture.

But he says it could not have caused the 11-centimetre tear in the vagina wall that caused blood loss and lead to Gladue's death.

Dowling added that sharp objects like a knife, razor or broken glass could have caused the injury.

He also said there were no other injuries or bruises on Gladue's body that suggested she was held down or restrained.

However, he later added that not everyone bruises when they are held down.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2021.

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  Indigenous people gather for a ceremony for Cindy Gladue held at the courthouse in Edmonton, Alta, on Wednesday, January 13, 2021. Bradley Barton, a 52-year-old long-haul truck driver from Ontario on trial for manslaughter, is accused of killing Gladue. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson