Closing arguments to begin in Robert Badgerow trial

Closing arguments are set to begin Tuesday in Kitchener in the first-degree murder trial of Robert Badgerow.

This is the Hamilton man's fourth trial for the death of Diane Werendowicz in 1981.

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The Crown alleges Badgerow dragged Werendowicz into a ravine, sexually assaulted and strangled her, and left her body in a creek in the Hamilton area.

Badgerow's defense lawyer has argued that while Badgerow and Werendowicz met outside Malarkey's bar and the two had sex in the back of his car, Badgerow didn't even know Werendowicz's name until he was arrested in 1998, and had nothing to do with her death.

Fourth murder trial allowed on appeal

Badgerow is the first person in Canada to be tried on the same murder charge four times.

The former steelworker was first arrested in 1998 and the first trial was overturned on appeal 10 years later.

The second trial ended in a mistrial in 2010 when the jury could not reach a verdict. The same happened after the third trial in 2011.

Following the mistrial in 2011, a Superior Court judge ordered a stay but an appeal court overturned that in 2014 once it was determined the Crown had more evidence to present than it did in the previous three trials.