r ii 10 economist mist suntribune thegourts thitrsday sepi28 y 2000 biway s- zellers f ldngol ap todayhomes v icja markhani food basics j igastoufrefeltblakt stoiiffville coopgrpiuw sobeystfanaliarmieep cashway furnacefireplace sale save up to 500 1 install now pay later with low monthly payments majestic jf j hgsheridalu is heating air conditioning call 4714222 murder trial begins he had cancer by lisa queen staff writer a richmond hill man charged with the first degree murder of his high- school buddy portrayed himself as a wealthy businessman sufferingfrom cancer to the victims family court has beentold james martin 38 was found murdered april 8 1998 in a wooded area near 19th avenue between leslie street and bayview avenue with two bullet holes in the back of his head crown attorney robert mccreary said the married father of three boys was killed march 25 1998 when he didnt show up for his night shift at casino rama in orolia where- he worked as a dishwasher martins abandoned pick up truck was found that night by a york regional police officer in theback parking lot ofhillcrest mall in richmond hill martin also failed to appear the following morning for a meeting with a lawyer to complete a real estate transaction martin had been carrying 120000in 100 and 1000 bills in plastic bags to purchase a house near the casino when he went missing- according to mccreary martin and stephen allan rogers agreed to buy a together although rogers put up 120000 in cash toward the purchase of the 150000 house mccreary said the home was to be registered in martins name- mccreary said rogers was supposed to live in the basement being cared for by martin and his family rogers has pleaded not guilty to the first degree murder of martin the men had firstmet in high school and were reacqiiainted some time before martin was killed mccreary said martin had told his brothers about a drug deal- he and rogerswere involved in that was to have taken placethe week martin was murdered x however rogers told j police- he knew- nothing about thednigdea rogers also told officers he trusted martin to hand over the 120000 which he claimed to have secured through selling assetsand gambling winnings to the lawyer to close the real estate transaction in his opening address to the nineman threewoman jury tuesday mccreary said martins murder was planned and deliberate according to mccreary a teenaged rboy living with rogers- originally- told detectives rogers had been home with him the entire night of march 25 but the youth later confessed rogers had gone out for some time and showed the teen a ruger semiautomatic handgun when he returned tests conducted at the centre forforensic sciences in toronto determined martin was shot with a ruger semiautomatic handgun this is a murder no one saw no one has confessed to but what you will be able to see isa picture of who killed jim martin on april 2 six days before martins body was found workers from the keele valley landfill in maplediscoyered a ruger semiautomatic handgun in a plastic bag near dufferin street j according to mccreary police also discovered ruger shell casings on an island cottage rogers had purchased with a friend mccreary said the ballistics expert concluded the guri found by the workers was the same one used to shoot martin while the shell casings from the cottage came from the same weapon however mccreary acknowledged his case is based largely on circumstantial evidence he said he will produce financial and health records to indicate rogerewasnot the man he t portrayed himself to be to the martin cfamii this is a murder noohe saw no one has confessed to mccreary addedbut mvhat you will beable tosee in my submission is a i- v tv