Published Jan 07, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 6\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
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Exterior of Sault Ste. Marie’s provincial courthouse on Nov. 13, 2018. (File)Article content<\/p>\n
A Sault Ste. Marie woman was found dead in her John Street residence with both doors of her main-floor unit blocked.<\/p>\n
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Taylor Marshall\u2019s boyfriend, Dawson Mattila, returned to the main-floor residence he\u2019d shared with the CIBC worker for six to eight months in the late afternoon of Sept. 7, 2023. Mattila had been working in the Echo Bay area. He left the residence at about 6:45 a.m., Superior Court Justice Michael Varpio heard Wednesday. <\/p>\n
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The couple had been sharing messages via Snapchat and text messages since his departure, but Marshall stopped responding at 10:26 a.m. Her lack of return messages was \u201cvery unusual,\u201d Mattila told assistant Crown attorney Trent Wilson.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lack of communication was a concern,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
He found the front door of their two-bedroom apartment blocked by a sofa when he returned at about 5:15 p.m. Mattila thought Marshall was cleaning. He yelled thinking she was asleep, but she did not respond. Mattila \u201cbooted\u201d the door and it opened six to eight inches, he testified. Marshall was seen \u201claying lifeless\u201d in the kitchen. She was \u201cstiff.\u201d Mattila saw a lot of blood, some still wet. He shook Marshall. She had no pulse. He called an ambulance and his mother and stepfather who had dropped him off. <\/p>\n
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A chair was pinned under the knob of a door at the back of the unit. A square shape was cut out of a window in a spare bedroom at the rear of the unit where supplies for the couple\u2019s two cats were kept. That window was shut when he left for work, Mattila said. Drywall in the unit had been damaged since the morning. <\/p>\n
Marshall went to a job interview at GoodLife Fitness, located across the street from Sault Ste. Marie Police Service on Second Line East, that morning. She arrived early and the interview started before the scheduled 10 a.m. time. Marshall was dropped off at her residence by her father, Ron Marshall, after she bought some groceries, including milk and frozen pizzas, at RJ\u2019s Market. Taylor was \u201call happy\u201d after the interview, her father testified. She exited his vehicle with her keys and grocery bag, went up the front steps, opened and closed the door. It was, said her dad, \u201cmy last interaction with her.\u201d Marshall said he got a message from a friend between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. that day expressing regrets for what happened to Taylor.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI had no idea,\u201d said Ron. When his daughter didn\u2019t answer her phone, he drove to her home. Police \u201csat me down\u201d and told him Taylor \u201cwas deceased.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mattila said he said on the curb and cried when paramedics arrived. <\/p>\n
Steven Jones has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder of Marshall and the attempted murder of Liam Frenette. <\/p>\n
Defence counsel Andrew Furgiuele challenged the stance of Staff Sgt. Rodney Burrows that Jones was not impaired by drugs when he was booked in at Sault Ste. Marie Police Service for the alleged stabbing of Frenette. Furgiuele highlighted various actions of his client, including asking for two lawyers who weren\u2019t based in Ontario to represent him and, at one point, he \u201cliterally staggers\u201d and had an odd gait. Burrows said Jones did not show several signs of impairment, including being excited or sleepy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was coherent,\u201d said Burrows. <\/p>\n
Furgiuele suggested Jones told Burrows he had not consumed alcohol or drugs for some time because one of the officers who arrested him following a boardwalk stabbing told him he\u2019d be charged for possession of a controlled substance. Burrows said he had not been told that Jones might face that possible offence. <\/p>\n
The trial resumes Thursday at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n