WARNING: This story contains graphic content
Closing arguments in Nicholas Butcher’s murder trial are scheduled to take place on Thursday morning at Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax.
Butcher, 36, is accused of killing Kristin Johnston, 32. Johnston was found dead at her home on Oceanview Drive off Purcells Cove Road on March 26, 2016.
Butcher has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and is currently on trial.
The accused was the only defence witness to take the stand, spending multiple days testifying on his own behalf.
Butcher told the jury that he and Johnston were sleeping at her home on March 26, 2016 when he woke up to someone on top of him, stabbing him in the throat.
The 36-year-old testified the bedroom was dark and the he couldn’t see who was stabbing him. He said he flipped the person over, got the knife from them and stabbed them three or four times in the throat.
“I reached over and I turned on the lamp and the person that was beneath me was Kristin and she was dead,” Butcher said on the stand through tears. “I thought to myself, I have to die too. I can’t live having killed someone.”
READ MORE: Man accused of killing Kristin Johnston takes stand in own defence
Butcher said he used the same knife that he used to stab Johnston and slit his wrists in an attempt to kill himself. When that didn’t work, he went to the bathroom, grabbed a razor blade and slit his wrists while lying next to Johnston. Eventually, he got a mitre saw and cut off his right hand, briefly losing consciousness when the saw went through the bone.
He was able to call 911 with his left hand, telling a dispatcher that he killed his girlfriend and that he needed help because he tried to kill himself.
WARNING: The call contains graphic content and may be disturbing to some.
During cross-examination by Crown Attorney Carla Ball, Butcher was questioned repeatedly about his relationship with Johnston. He said that the pair did have some arguments, like all couples and disputed claims that he felt his life was “worth living” because Johnston was in it, telling the court his life was worth living for lots of reasons.
Ball also suggested that the wounds on Butcher’s neck were self-inflicted. A claim that the accused has denied.
Once closing arguments are complete, the judge will deliver his final instructions and the jury will be sequestered until they are able to reach a verdict in the case.
With files from Graeme Benjamin
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