Accused killer Jean Ann James admitted to an undercover cop that she was a suspect in the murder of her friend, but denied any involvement in the homicide, a jury heard on Monday.
James, 72, of Richmond, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the June 1992 slaying of Gladys Wakabayashi, 41, in her Vancouver home.
The Crown's theory is that James slit her friend's throat after she learned that she was having an affair with her husband Derek.
The jury has been told that at the end of a lengthy undercover operation launched in 2008, James confessed to the grisly slaying in the Shaughnessy home of Wakabayashi, the daughter of a Taiwanese billionaire.
But before the confession, in the middle of the yearlong operation, James told an undercover police officer that a friend of hers told police that James was the killer, court heard.
"She denied any involvement," said the undercover operator who cannot be identified because of a publication ban. "She said the only reason she was a suspect at that time was because she was friends with the deceased."
The undercover cop described an elaborate operation targeting James.
The cop posed as the very wealthy wife of a property developer. She and James went to a spa, to wine tastings and on shopping trips, the policewoman said.
James said she had hailed from royalty and deserved a nice lifestyle.
"She wanted to live in the south of France and also to have a house in Shaughnessy," the cop said.
The trial continues.
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/news/Undercover+police+operation+outlined+woman+trial/5601567/story.html#ixzz1boWF5tNg
