'Badly beaten up': Cop tells story of what they found at home of Osoyoos woman allegedly killed by husband, at first day of trial Monday

UPDATE: 3 p.m.

Crown prosecutors began to build their manslaughter case against Roderick Flavell Monday, calling police officers and family friends to the stand who interacted with the accused killer on the day his wife was found inches from death and unresponsive.

Penticton Supreme Court heard from RCMP Constables Sidhu and Robinson about what happened on the evening of April 8, 2020.

Const. Sidhu testified that he was working at the Osoyoos RCMP detachment when a man, shortly identified as Flavell, arrived outside at around 11 p.m. and used the exterior phone to call inside to the staff on duty.

In recorded audio from that conversation played in the courtroom, Flavell says he had sent an email to the RCMP earlier, that his wife "isn't doing well" and needs medical attention.

He dodges a question as to what happened and whether they fought, and arranges to speak to an officer outside in his car.

Sidhu went outside to meet Flavell. Sidhu testified that Flavell asked if anyone had been to his house yet because his wife, 61-year-old Tina Seminara, “was in bad shape.”

“I looked closer and saw bloodstains [on his shirt],” Sidhu said, in his opinion, adding that his colleague noted knives and rope in the passenger seat of the car.

“I advised Mr. Flavell that he was under arrest for assault of his wife.”

Flavell was taken into custody, and Const. Robinson headed to the Flavell home.

Both Sidhu and Robinson recalled Flavell had a "calm" demeanour, and that he was not talkative. Sidhu said he saw red scratches on Flavell's wrists, red marks on his neck, and more scratches on his cheek, while processing him for detainment. Flavell declined when asked if he wanted to contact a lawyer.

Meanwhile, Robinson arrived at the couple's Osoyoos home on Cypress Hills Drive. It was dark and quiet, and the door was locked.

He attempted to break the glass to enter the home, but was unsuccessful. He radioed back to the station where Flavell was after noticing a passcode entry box, and received a code that worked.

Inside, he found what he described as signs of struggle, including an upended coffee table and broken glass, and Seminara lying on the floor partially covered by a blanket and what appeared to be a couch cushion.

Robinson testified he checked her pulse, which was "very faint" but detectable, and her breathing, which he described as "gurgling" and "gasping."

He did not perform CPR given that she was breathing and had a pulse, instead calling for assistance. EMS arrived shortly thereafter.

"I never got a response from [Seminara],” Robinson said.

He described her face as "badly beaten up" — swollen shut eyes, blood around her nose and swollen lips, and that her face had begun to "change colour."

Seminara was subsequently transferred to hospital, and after weeks in a vegetative state that the Crown purports was caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain, her family decided to pull the plug. She died on April 17, 2020, at which time aggravated assault charges against her husband were upgraded to manslaughter.

On Monday, court also heard from a neighbour and family friend who testified he received chilling texts from Flavell at 9:57 p.m. on April 8, more than an hour before he appeared at the RCMP station — "Call 911" and "Tina needs help" among the messages. The friend testified he did not see the messages until the following morning.

He also testified he never saw any fighting between the couple.

Tuesday will see the trial continue, with expected witnesses to include two emergency response personnel and a doctor who attended to Seminara at the hospital.

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ORIGINAL: 10:45 a.m.

The trial of an Osoyoos man accused of an assault that killed his wife in 2020 is underway in Penticton as of Monday morning.

Roderick Flavell, who is in his early 60s, is in Supreme Court for the first day of what is expected to be an up to three-week trial by judge.

Flavell faces charges that on April 8, 2020, he hurt his wife Tina Seminara, 61, so badly that she was left in a vegetative state and subsequently died in hospital. He pleaded not guilty.

He previously elected to be tried by jury, but changed his mind in April 2022, opting for only a judge.

Multiple witnesses including police officers, first responders, neighbours and others are expected in the coming weeks.

More to come.