A trial for a man accused of sexually assaulting two University of Victoria students in their apartment in 2016 took a bizarre turn when a witness took the stand and claimed responsibility for the crime.
The twist took place in the jury trial for 44-year-old David Robert Hope, the 44-year-old man accused of knocking on the UVic students' door on Jan. 27, 2016, barging inside and sexually assaulting the young women.
On Tuesday the defence opened its case and called its first witness, who took the stand and told the jury he was the one who committed the crimes that Hope was accused of.
He said he met Hope while the two were in jail and overheard Hope describing the details of the crime that he was accused of, and recognized them as his own crime.
The jury had previously heard from the two victims in the case who detailed opening the door of their suite to a man who ordered them to remove their clothes and sexually assaulted them.
They then led him to a nearby bank machine, taking out cash to give him before fleeing to a nearby Starbucks, court heard.
On Friday, the jury heard from a DNA expert who said a sample taken from the door handle of the basement suite apartment matched DNA from a blood sample taken after Hope was arrested.
A tech expert also testified that he discovered multiple searches of media reports about the alleged attack on a phone Hope used in the days after it happened.
The witness who claimed responsibility for the crime is expected to testified again Wednesday, and the trial is expected to continue through to next week.
