On Monday, the Crown officially closed its case in Christopher Garnier’s murder trial.
Garnier is accused of killing off-duty Truro police officer Catherine Campbell at an apartment on McCully Street in Halifax in September 2015 and using a green bin to dispose of her body under the Macdonald Bridge. Garnier has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and improperly interfering with a dead body.
Now that the Crown has officially closed its case, here’s a look back at the witnesses they have called over the last three weeks.
READ: Christopher Garnier pleads not guilty to murder of Catherine Campbell, jury selection underway
Well-being check
Erin Adams, a dispatch supervisor with the Truro Police Service, was the first witness to testify in the second-degree murder trial. Adams testified she was both a co-worker and a friend of Campbell’s. She requested Halifax Regional Police (HRP) do a well-being check on Campbell after she failed to show up for work.
Const. Stuart McCulley, a member of the Halifax Regional Police, was the second witness in the trial. McCulley told the court he was tasked with checking Campbell’s Dartmouth apartment as part of a well-being check. He was also able to obtain video from the apartment building Campbell lived in and was able to identify both Campbell and her vehicle on the footage.
Night out at the Halifax Alehouse bar
Terrance Little was the third witness to testify. Little has worked as a cab driver for Bob’s Taxi for nearly four decades. He told the court he had picked up Campbell at her Dartmouth apartment building shortly after midnight on Sept. 11, 2015. Little said Campbell seemed normal and was not intoxicated when he dropped her off at the Halifax Alehouse.
RCMP Const. Kyle Doane was the fourth witness. He obtained surveillance video taken in the early morning hours of Sept. 11, 2015, from inside and outside the Alehouse. In it, Campbell and Garnier could be seen dancing and being “passionate,” as Doane described it, at the bar.
WATCH: Surveillance video from inside the Halifax Alehouse on the night its alleged Catherine Campbell was murdered
The fifth witness was Ryan Proudfoot, a bartender at the Alehouse. Proudfoot told the court he knew Garnier because the pair used to work together at the bar. He testified he saw Garnier on the day in question at the Alehouse and that Garnier told him that he and his girlfriend had just broken up.
Bradley Randall, a member of the Canadian Forces who worked at the Alehouse in September 2015 was the sixth witness. He testified that he saw Garnier at the Alehouse on Sept. 11, 2015, and saw him kissing a “skinny blonde woman” before they left together.
Mitch Devoe’s apartment on McCully Street
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Det. Const. Scott MacLeod was the seventh witness. He said he went to 5714 McCully St. as part of the ongoing police investigation, While there, MacLeod said he interviewed Mitchell Devoe, who lived at the apartment and learned the mattress from Devoe’s pull-out couch was missing. MacLeod said he also noticed a “single droplet of blood” in the hallway of the apartment and later located a silver chain on the roof of a building on Agricola Street.
READ MORE: Christopher Garnier murder trial: Videos show night Catherine Campbell allegedly murdered
Devoe, 30, was the eighth Crown witness. He told the court he had been friends with Garnier for 16 years. On Sept. 10, 2015, he said he invited Garnier over to his apartment for some drinks and to go downtown after Garnier informed him that he and his girlfriend had broken up. Devoe said the pair drank together before heading downtown. He recalled being at a bar named Cheers but not the Alehouse. Devoe testified he was intoxicated and woke up the next morning in the drunk tank.
When he arrived back at his McCully Street apartment on the morning of Sept. 11, 2015, Devoe recalled Garnier sleeping on a sectional sofa and not the pull-out couch he had made up for him – but went to bed. Several text messages between Devoe and Garnier were entered as evidence in the trial. In one message, Devoe asked Garnier what happened to the mattress from his sofa. Garnier told Devoe that he had gotten sick and threw it away but would replace it.
READ: Jury sees video of Catherine Campbell with her alleged murderer at bar, kissing
Cab ride to McCully Street
The ninth witness was Det. Const. Christian Pluta, a member of the Halifax Regional Police. Pluta testified he was tasked with looking for video surveillance that could help the investigation. By viewing video taken on Agricola Street, he ended up finding a dark-coloured cab that was in the area on the morning on Sept. 11, 2015. Pluta was able to track the cab to Yellow Taxi by using the image he obtained and GPS coordinates.
Taxi driver Simon Zekarias was the 10th witness to testify. He told the court that he picked up a man and woman downtown and drove them to McCully Street. Although he was unable to hear the conversation between the man and the woman while they were in his cab, Zekarias said he felt there was some tension. He did not identify either Garnier or Campbell by name during his testimony.
Evidence from McCully Street apartment
The 11th witness was Halifax police Det. Const. Marshall Hewitt, who photographed 5714 McCully St. He said he took photos of several spots he believed could have been blood. Some of the spots were located on the floor of the den, the back of the television, a Kleenex box and on the handle to a cupboard that contained cleaning supplies.
Didn’t show up for work
The 12th witness was Shawn Michael Kenney, who works at K & D Pratt in Dartmouth. He told the court he hired Garnier in September 2015. Kenney said Garnier showed up for his first day of work on Sept. 14 and had a good demeanour. The following day, Sept. 15, Kenney said Garnier also attended work, however, he failed to show up for work on Sept. 16.
READ MORE: Christopher Garnier 2nd-degree murder trial sees photos of suspected blood, hears from cab driver
Surveillance video from around McCully Street
RCMP Sgt. Charla Keddy was the 13th witness. Keddy said she canvassed the area around the McCully Street apartment for any potential surveillance video. During that time, she spoke to an employee of Soma Laser who showed her their surveillance footage from the morning of Sept. 11, 2015.
The video shows a man coming from the back of 5714 McCully St. and walking towards Soma. About a minute later, the individual returned with a green bin. While playing a different camera angle from the same business, Keddy described how something fell from the green bin as the individual was rolling it. The person with the green bin bent over, picked it up, and threw it on top of a nearby building. A short time later, the individual is seen coming back into the view of the camera and returning to the McCully Street property.
The 14th witness was Jacqueline MacNeil, who was a former employee of the Soma Vein and Laser Centre in Halifax. She testified that she showed police the footage of the man with the green bin.
READ: Christopher Garnier murder trial sees video of man pushing green bin
Ronald MacDonald, a garbage truck driver, was the 15th witnesses to testify. He told the court he had worked an early morning shift in September 2015 and witnessed a barefoot man pulling a green bin near Gus’ Pub. He identified his garbage truck in a surveillance video that was played for the court which shows a man pulling a green bin and running across the street in front of a garbage truck.
The 16th witness was Andrew Golding, who testified that in September 2015 he left his Gerrish Street home to walk to work every day at 4:45 a.m. On Sept. 11, 2015, Golding says he witnessed a man pulling a green bin along his route. Golding said he never spoke to the man but made eye contact with him. Golding says the man was pulling the green bin with his left hand and said it appeared the green bin was carrying some weight.
WATCH: Video of a man pushing a pushing a green bin from a McCully Street home
Halifax Regional Police Det. Const. Michael Barkhouse was the 17th witness. He told the court he photographed a necklace found on the roof of an Agricola Street business.
Const. Joshua McNeil and Const. Brad McLellan were the 18th and 19th witnesses. Both are members of the Halifax Regional Police and were in the quick response unit two years ago. McNeil and McLellan told the court they assisted police searching green bins in north-end Halifax looking for evidence. The pair also drove towards the Macdonald Bridge, where McNeil noticed tire marks that appeared to be from a green bin. They later located a green bin with its lid open near some shrubbery in the same area.
The 20th witness was HRP Det. Const. John Beer, who was a member of the homicide unit in September 2015. Beer said he was tasked with going to the bridge commission and looking through surveillance video of the area. Beer told the court he located video that showed a shadowy figure moving down the ramp and then a figure with a bin running across the screen in the footage. Beer told the jury you could see the figure dragging something behind the person in one of the clips. The next time the figure appears on the screen the person is not dragging anything.
INTERACTIVE: New exhibits in Christopher Garnier murder trial released by court
Body found
Const. Adam Cole, a 12-year veteran of the Halifax police, was the 21st witness. Cole said he and his partner were informed that officers McNeil and McLellan located a green bin and went to assist them. While on the scene, Cole says they started to make their way along an embankment when he saw a large wooden box. Cole said he crawled along the embankment until he reached the box. Once he lifted it slightly, he said he could see hair. When Cole lifted the box up, he testified he could see a person with a tattoo on the back of the neck and a silver chain.
HRP Det. Const. Randy Wood was the 22nd witness. He told the court he and another officer worked to photograph a large garbage bin that was located on the corner of McCully and Agricola Streets. Inside the bin, Wood said he found a garbage bag with a set of Mazda keys and a Goodlife Fitness tag. Wood and another officer later went to process the scene where the human remains were located.
Halifax police Sgt. Tony Croft, the Crown’s 23rd witness, told the court he took photos of a body that police found in the early morning hours of Sept. 16, 2015. Croft says the body was located on an embankment up against a rock wall and that police had a difficult time accessing it. Croft testified he had to crawl on his hands and knees at some point to get to the site. Croft said the body was located face down and that the individual had a firefighters’ tattoo on the neck. He also told the court that the person had on a dress, no bra and no underwear when the body was removed from the site by the Medical Examiner.
READ: Garnier Trial: Jury shown pictures of body discovered under Macdonald Bridge
Medical Examiner’s findings
Dr. Matthew Bowes, the province’s medical examiner was the 24th witness to take the stand. Bowes said he was able to positively identify the body that police located near the Macdonald Bridge as Campbell through dental records and determined that her death was a homicide caused by strangulation. Bowes said when Campbell’s body was located, she had a fractured nose and black eyes. Bowes testified he believed the fractured nose occurred at or around the time of death.
Police monitor Garnier
RCMP Const. Shawn Stanton and HRP Det. Const. Parker McIsaac were the 25 and 26th witnesses. Both were tasked with going to 18 Chadwick Pl. and monitoring the man inside the residence.
Halifax police Sgt. Derrick Boyd was the 27th witness. Boyd testified that he and his partner followed Garnier through Halifax on the morning on Sept. 16, 2015. He said Garnier drove from his residence on Chadwick Place to Valour Way, where he stopped for about 10 seconds before driving back onto Barrington Street and heading towards Clayton Park.
Another witness sees man with green bin
The 28th witness was David Yeo who testified that he lived in a residence facing Barrington Street in September 2015. Shortly after 5 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2015, Yeo says he made a coffee and stepped onto his balcony, where he testified he saw a man struggling with a green bin. Yeo said he watched the man go towards the tree line located by the overpass to the Macdonald Bridge. He said he watched the man for several minutes until he was out of view.
WATCH: Christopher Garnier’s defence lawyer floats idea of erotic asphyxiation in Catherine Campbell death
Garnier arrested
HRP Const. David Robertson, Halifax Regional Police was the 29th witness. He was another officer who was tasked with following Garnier. Robertson told the court that he parked in a parking lot across the street from Garnier’s home and watched a white man with a T-shirt walk over to a car and move some items.
HRP Sgt. Ken Burton was the 30th witness. Burton said he followed Garnier from Clayton Park to Barrington Street near the Macdonald Bridge and back. When Garnier got close to his former home on Chadwick Place, Burton put on his lights, stopped the vehicle and officers arrested Garnier. Burton testified there was a green tarp, work gloves, a backpack, yellow rope, tape and a brown blanket in the vehicle Garnier was driving when he was taken into custody.
READ MORE: Garnier trial: Tarp, work gloves and rope found in vehicle of accused killer
Toxicologist’s findings on Campbell’s body
Toxicologist Chris Keddy was the 31st witness. He told the court there were no signs of drugs and that Campbell’s blood alcohol content was 169 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood. He testified that you would expect to see signs of impairment in someone whose blood alcohol content was in the range of 120-150 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood. Under cross-examination, Pink asked Keddy if it would be fair to say that someone with a blood alcohol content of 169 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood who wasn’t showing signs of impairment would be an experienced drinker. Keddy said that would be a fair statement.
Garnier’s arrest
The 32nd witness was Halifax police Det. Const. John Mansvelt. He testified he was also tasked with watching Garnier. He says he was observing the accused’s vehicle while he was at work in Burnside at K&D Pratt. He later followed him from his former Clayton Park residence to downtown Halifax.
HRP Sgt. André Habib was the 33rd witness. He testified the vehicle that Garnier was driving on the day he was arrested contained a tarp, rope, blanket and a five-litre gas can that was half full. Habib also said a backpack containing sandals, a long-sleeve hoodie, three T-shirts, pants, sandals, six pairs of underwear and toiletries was also found inside the Ford Edge. Habib said they also found a passport with the name Christopher Garnier, a deck of cards and two boxes of Cipralex, a medication used for depression.
READ: Jury watches police interview in Christopher Garnier murder trial
DNA found in McCully Street apartment
DNA forensic expert Dr. Greg Litzenberger was the 34th witness. He told the court that a sample of blood on a T-shirt that police found in a garbage bin across the street from the McCully Street apartment where it is alleged Campbell was killed matched a known sample to Campbell.
Litzenberger said Campbell’s DNA was found on a sample of blood taken off a television in the McCully Street apartment, as well as a stereo. Campbell’s DNA was also found on the floor of the same apartment.
Technology expert Blair MacLellan was the 35th witness. He testified he was asked to analyze a computer for any references to Catherine Campbell but none was found. MacLellan said he did find a number of searches on Sept. 15, 2015, that were related to the antidepressant Cipralex – including searches for Cipralex and alcohol, Cipralex and violence and Cipralex and memory loss.
READ MORE: Catherine Campbell’s DNA found inside McCully Street apartment where it’s alleged she was murdered
The 36th witness was Sgt. Adrian Butler, a blood stain pattern analyst with the RCMP. Butler said one blood stain, which was found on the back of the television in the den, was considered a transfer stain and consistent with Campbell coming into contact with it.
Butler testified there were 26 spatter stains located on the floor of the apartment and that each one was 10 millimetres or smaller in size. He said three spatter stains were also found in toolbox box in the apartment, which indicated it may have been moved. Blood-spatter stains were also found on the stereo cabinets and speakers and Butler said it matched Campbell’s DNA.
WATCH: Christopher Garnier describes having his hands around Catherine Campbell’s neck during a police interrogation in September 2015.
Garnier’s interrogation
Cpl. Joseph (Jody) Allison was the 37th and final witness for the Crown. Allison was one of the police officers who interrogated Garnier for nine and a half hours after he was arrested in the death of Campbell. Allison pressed Garnier for hours about what happened on the night he met Campbell.
Several hours into the interrogation, Allison asked how Campbell died and why her face was bloody. When asked if he struck Campbell 30 times, 15 times or just once, Garnier said, “I obviously couldn’t have done it a significant number of times because there’s no marks on me.”
Garnier later told Allison that he may have hit Campbell with his fists two or three times. When Allison asked Garnier during the interrogation if Campbell was alive when she was put in the green bin, Garnier replies “no” and that “she wasn’t moving. She wasn’t breathing.”
WATCH: Christopher Garnier describes Catherine Campbell’s last breath during a police interrogation in September 2015
The defence has now started to call evidence in the trial.
In total, 23 court days over five weeks have been set aside to hear the case, with a verdict expected just before Christmas.
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