Sonja Gashus, the former girlfriend of accused killer William Sandeson, took the stand Monday at his first-degree murder trial.
Sandeson, 24, stands accused of killing Taylor Samson.
The 22-year-old was last seen alive on video walking into Sandeson’s apartment with him shortly before 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 15, 2015.
Samson is not seen leaving the apartment. His body has never been found.
WATCH: Last images of Taylor Samson shown to jury in William Sandeson murder trial
Gashus told the jury she and Sandeson started a relationship in January 2015.
She said the two would spend time together at school, during track and field and at his apartment on Henry Street in Halifax.
Gashus testified she spent much of Aug. 15, 2015 at Lawrencetown Beach with some friends before meeting up with Sandeson and going to dinner in downtown Halifax.
At some point during the evening, Gashus testified Sandeson asked her to leave the apartment for a period of time, something she thought was unusual.
READ: Taylor Samson’s DNA found on items seized from Sandeson’s apartment, murder trial hears
Gashus said she was aware Sandeson was involved in the drug trade and assumed he was doing a drug deal that night — so she made plans to go to a friend’s apartment nearby.
Gashus said she was texting with Sandeson while she was out and around 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 16, 2015, he messaged her to say she was able to come back to his place.
The 23-year-old said the apartment smelled like cleaning products when she returned but did not see any blood.
WATCH: Jury hears William Sandeson told roommate not to come home on night of alleged murder
Gashus said Sandeson told her that three people had been at his apartment earlier that evening when one of the men “sucker-punched” another man and that he had to clean up blood from the fight.
She also told the court that Sandeson said he was given a box containing marijuana from one of the men who was at his apartment that night.
Gashus said she later saw a post on Facebook about someone named Taylor Samson being missing and sent it to Sandeson, asking if he was the man who was beat up. She testified Sandeson said no and that the man who was punched wasn’t that tall.
Gashus also told the court she was aware Sandeson owned a gun and that the pair had gone to a shooting range together.
WATCH: Blood spatter expert takes stand in Sandeson murder trial
Gashus told the court that she and Sandeson went to her grandmother’s house in Dartmouth for dinner on Aug. 18, 2015.
As they were leaving, Gashus said police cars pulled into the driveway and put handcuffs on both her and Sandeson, saying he was being arrested for an abduction and that she had to come with them.
Gashus said she was never placed under arrest and after speaking with police for about half-an-hour was released.
READ: William Sandeson murder trial hears police searched family farm looking for body
Following Gashus’ testimony, the defence chose to close their case and not have Sandeson testify on his own behalf.
“He’s relying on his right to silence,”said Eugene Tan, one of Sandeson’s defence lawyers.
“I think when we put together our argument, you’ll see why we chose to attack the evidence in the way we did.”
With the testimony of dozens of witnesses and 100 exhibits, all of the evidence is now before the jury.
“The Crown had expected that we’d have a lot of evidence to supply to the jury and that’s what happened in this case,” said Crown attorney Susan MacKay.
“There’s always been surprises along the way but we are confident that the jury will be having a lot of evidence that’ll help them decide their verdict.”
READ: William Sandeson says during interrogation video intruders may have shot Taylor Samson
The case has seen a lot of procedural issues along the way, all of which are covered under a publication ban and cannot be reported.
“At the end of the day, there are a lot of side issues, a lot of things that have caused us to go off the road but I think the stories that each side wants to tell are fairly simple,” said Tan.
The defence’s theory is the police investigation was inadequate – with officers focusing their attention on Sandeson early on, without looking at other possibilities.
“What I’ll say is that I think there were a lot of leads that were presented, some of which we feel were substantive and should have been pursued and at the end of the day we feel that in a lot of ways there was a result that was sought and everything along the way was used to justify that result,” said Tan.
READ MORE: Answers to commonly asked questions about the Sandeson murder trial
Both the Crown and the defence will now try to summarize the last eight weeks of the trial into closing arguments and present them to the jury on Monday.
Once the judge delivers his final instructions to the jury Tuesday, deliberations will begin and the jury will stay together until a verdict is reached in the case.
As for Sandeson, Tan says he’s still feeling confident heading into the final stretch of his first-degree murder trial.
“He has been holding up very well,” said Tan.
The jury is scheduled to return to Nova Scotia Supreme Court Monday at 9:30 a.m.
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