Accused Kevin Goforth says girls 'slender' not 'skinny' under cross-examination

On Tuesday the crown continued its cross-examination of Kevin Goforth, who's charged, along with his wife Tammy, in the second-degree murder of a four-year-old girl.

The Goforths are also charged with causing bodily harm to her younger sister, 2.

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Both girls were in the care of the Goforths in 2012 when the older girl died.

Court had previously heard that the four-year-old girl was in cardiac arrest when she arrived at hospital and was suffering from malnutrition and dehydration. She was taken off life support on Aug. 2 of that year.

Goforth is the final person to take the stand in the case which hasbeen ongoing forthe past two weeks.

On Monday Goforth testified, dealing with items the crown had entered as evidence earlier in the trial. Tuesday his cross-examination continued.

Kevin Goforthcross-examination

On Tuesday, the Crown prosecutor focused on a statement Goforth made to police shortly after the girls were taken to hospital on July 31, 2012.

The Crown brought up quotes from his statement and confronted him about what he said.According to the statement, Goforth discussed the use of a strap to restrain the older girl.

"What did you do with the strap?" asked the sergeant four years ago.

"Just to restrain her," said Goforth in the transcript.

When the sergeant asked Goforth to explain how he used the strap, Goforth said"Just restrain. Her feet were tied together."

Earlier in the trial the court heard that police collected a cargo strap from the home as evidence, and DNA results found a single human hair belonging to the older girl on it.

When asked on Tuesday about these statements from 2012, Goforth said he never knew of any strap.

"It says I said that, but what in my mind I was thinking of [was the older girl's] hands being taped with mitts," he told the court, and said that he has never seen her feet tied together.

When Tammy Goforth was questioned by the court on Friday, she said the older girl would poke her nose until it bled, so she would tape mittens on her. She said the tape ended up causing some marks.

The 'breaking point'

The court also heard that in the police transcript in 2012, the sergeant had asked Kevin Goforth at what point Tammy "hit the breaking point."

According to the transcript, Goforth said "I don't know, a couple of weeks ago. She just... it seemed like... it didn't seem like she cared anymore."

In response to this, Goforth said that the 2012 statement was his first time being interviewed by the police.

"You just don't know when you're being interviewed by the police how it feels," he said.

"And in my mind, I'm thinking they're just putting words in my mouth. They're just insinuating, making me say something that I'm not saying."

Goforth told the Crown that he is a Christian man who believes in telling the truth.

"So you're a Christian man who lied to the police, but you're going to tell the truth today?" the Crown said.

Goforth again replied that the police were putting words in his mouth.

Debate over state of girls

In the transcript, it said the police asked Goforth if he was worried about calling them because of the bruises, to which Goforth said "Not necessarily bruises, just being skinny."

Today, he wouldn't say they were skinny under cross-examination.

"Not skinny. They were slender," he said.

The Crown suggested at that point that Goforth and his wife Tammy had agreed to strategically use the world slender instead of skinny to "minimize how sick these girls were."

Goforth said that wasn't true.

"I just spoke my own feeling. My own words, and I've never spoken to my wife about this," he said.

Goforth said that he believed that the kids were sick, but that they would get better.He said he and his wife Tammy cared for the girls the best way they knew how.

The trial before Queen's Bench Justice Ellen Gunn started two weeks ago and is expected to continue to the end of the week.

Court resumes Thursday for final addresses by the Crown and Defence.