Twins' drownings initially ruled as accidental, trial told

The original death certificates of Karen and Krista Hart said they died accidentally, a Newfoundland Supreme Court murder trial has been told.

The twin girls were three years old when theydrowned in Gander Lake in August 2002.

Their father, Nelson Hart, is being tried in Gander of two counts of first-degree murder.

Dr. Charles Hutton, who did the autopsies on the girls, testified on Tuesday that he put "accidental" on the girls' death certificates, based on the best information he had at the time.

Dr. Simon Avis, the province's chief medical examiner, later reviewed the cases and revised the death certificates eight months later.

Avis told the court there was not enough information to say that the twins died accidentally. Avis said he changed the manner of death to "undetermined."

Charges against Nelson Hart were not laid until 2005.

Court was told last week how RCMP officers organized an undercover operation involving Hart, who had changed his story of what happened the day his daughters died.

Hart told an undercover officer whom he believed was a Montreal crime boss that he drowned the girls deliberately.

The defence argued that the confession, which was videotaped, was made under coercion, and that Hart was afraid for his life.