A Saanich teacher wept on the witness

A Saanich teacher wept on the witness stand Monday as she relived the devastating discovery of a newborn baby's body in a plastic bag in the bedroom of her Japanese homestay student last year.

Gail Floyd, who has been a homestay host for the University of Victoria for about 10 years, was testifying at the two-week jury trial of Narumi Bito in B.C. Supreme Court.

The 20-year-old exchange student is charged with disposing of the body of her dead child and concealing the fact she had delivered a child on Sept. 17, 2010. She is also charged with offering an indignity to human remains.

During Floyd's emotional testimony, Bito bent her head forward and cried quietly. Her defence lawyer Christopher Mackie, who is fluent in Japanese, looked on with concern.

Floyd testified that Bito came to stay with her on Aug. 28, 2010. She was friendly, quiet and laughed a lot with Floyd and Chinese homestay student Way Chen. Unlike other students, Bito stayed home all the time, which was unusual, Floyd testified.

On the morning of Sept. 17, Floyd noticed a little pool of blood on the kitchen floor. She assumed one of the girls was having her period, and cleaned it up. She had coffee and read the newspaper. It slowly dawned on her the bathroom door had been closed for a while.

Floyd testified she heard indistinct noises coming from the bathroom, then a thump. She knocked on the door and asked Bito: "Are you OK? Do you need anything?"
Bito said no, Floyd testified. But as time moved on and the door stayed closed, Floyd knocked again and told Bito she needed to have her shower.