The fate of Nicholas Butcher will soon be in the hands of the jury hearing his murder trial.
Butcher, 36, has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder of Kristin Johnston and is currently on trial before judge and jury at Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax. Johnston, 32, was originally from Montreal and had operated a yoga studio in downtown Halifax.
Thursday, the Crown and defence recapped their cases for the court while delivering their closing arguments.
READ: Police, toxicologist testify at Butcher second-degree murder trial in Halifax
Crown Attorney Carla Ball told the jury they believe Butcher waited until Johnston left to meet friends on the night of March 25, 2016, then used her laptop to read her Facebook messages, where he learned that she wanted to end their relationship.
The Crown alleges that Butcher tracked Johnston down through her private conversations with her friend and went to Mike Belyea’s home, not once, but twice that night.
READ: Murder victim’s friend faces cross-examination at Nicholas Butcher trial
Johnston’s friend Lisa Abramowicz testified that the first time Butcher came uninvited to Belyea’s home, Johnston told Abramowicz that she had broken up with Butcher.
The second time, the court heard that Butcher saw Belyea and Johnston kissing in his bed.
WATCH: Kristin Johnston’s best friend testifies at Nicholas Butcher murder trial
Ball said that Johnston and Butcher left Belyea’s apartment together and once the pair were back at Johnston’s Purcells Cove home, the Crown alleges Butcher waited until Johnston was asleep then stabbed her multiple times in the throat.
Ball said it took Johnston five minutes to die. Afterwards, she alleged that Butcher attempted to kill himself multiple times. The first time by stabbing himself in the neck, the second time by slitting his wrists with a razor blade and finally by chopping off his right hand with a mitre saw before calling 911 to ask for help.
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His hand was located by police in the bedroom near Johnston’s lifeless body and has since been surgically reattached.
Listen to the 911 call Nicholas Butcher placed on March 26, 2016.
WARNING: The call contains graphic content and may be disturbing to some.
The defence had a very different theory about what happened between Butcher and Johnston.
Lawyer Peter Planetta told the jury that Johnston was stressed about her yoga studio closing and described her behaviour after returning to Halifax from a trip to Costa Rica with a friend as erratic.
The only witness to testify for the defence was Nicholas Butcher himself, who spent multiple days on the stand.
READ MORE: Man accused of killing Kristin Johnston takes stand in own defence
Butcher told the court that he woke up on March 26, 2016 to someone on top of him who was stabbing him in the throat.
According to Butcher’s testimony, he said he was able to flip the person over, get the knife and stab the person a few times in the throat. Butcher said it was only after he turned on the light in the bedroom that he realized the person who had attacked him was Johnston and that she was dead.
Planetta told the court that Butcher acted in self-defence.
Justice Joshua Arnold is scheduled to deliver his final instructions to the jury on Friday morning.
After that, the jury will be sequestered until they reach a verdict in the case.
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