Staples lawyer testifies

The man accused of killing his father and his sister 16-years ago was getting some surprising support Thursday from a key witness in the case. Lawyer Paul Mazza was a friend, neighbour, business partner, and legal advisor to both Bill Staples and the man accused of killing him, his son Mark Staples.

Paul Mazza was intimately involved in the business and personal affairs of the Staples family.

Mark rented and farmed 25 acres of land belonging to Mazza who was a neighbour. Mazza did legal work for both Mark and his father Bill. He was also a partner in a mortgage lending arrangement with Bill, and another witness in the case, Bob Packham. And he and Packham worked together as executor and legal advisor on the estate of Bill Staples, after he was killed.

But in his time on the stand today, Mazza had not a single bad word to say about Mark Staples. Instead he praised Mark as a hard worker and a good partner for his father Bill on the farm.

He told the jury: “I think they had tremendous respect for each other.” He said he never saw any anger, or violence between the two.

But he also told the jury that he wasn’t very happy with the way police handled the investigation. He told the court that if Mark were to be charged with the murders of Bill and Rhonda Borelli, he would not be able to inherit Bill’s estate, valued at more than two million dollars.

He said the police told him many times that charges were imminent in the case: “The word was, it’s gonna’ happen, it’s gonna’ happen. it’s gonna’ happen. Well, it never happened.”

Police also failed to pursue a 20-thousand dollar cheque taken from Bill’s account, but signed by Mark: “They didn’t lay charges for that, never mind the murder” he said.

Instead, he said police for years continually pulled Mark over asking for his licence and registration.

He and Bob Packham dragged out the legal process of settling the estate for nearly two years. But in the end, they had no choice but to release more than one point four million dollars to Mark to settle the estate.

Mazza is still involved with the accused. He put up the surety to guarantee Mark’s bail, and says he still sees him every month or two. Although Mazza was a witness called by the crown, it was clear that the defence was delighted with the testimony Mazza gave about the character of the accused.