WARNING: This story contains content some readers may find disturbing.
Blake Schreiner told a Saskatoon police investigator he woke up early and picked up a knife the morning after discussing a separation with his spouse.
Tammy Brown, his common-law partner, was in bed in another room. Schreiner “got onto a bad track,” he told Sgt. Kory Ochitwa.
“There was a voice inside my head that said ‘the kids,’ like … I don’t know what it was,” he said during the interview played in court Tuesday.
Schreiner has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
The men spoke at Saskatoon police headquarters on the evening of Jan. 29, 2019. Shortly after 8:30 that morning, Brown, 39, was declared dead at a home on Kootenay Drive in Saskatoon’s north end.
“I pretty much blacked out for most of it, like as in I don’t even know what I was doing,” he said.
He recalled one of his young children entering the room where Tammy Brown’s body laid on the ground. He shut the door, made the kids breakfast and thought he may never see them again, the officer was told.
Schreiner also went on a drive down Circle Avenue, through 8th Street and across downtown before returning home and calling police.
“I don’t know what the f–k I was doing,” Schreiner said. “I wanted to figure things out in my head”
In his 911 call, Schreiner said there were “multiple stab wounds.”
The night before, the couple had dinner, watched a movie and “things were pretty good,” according to Schreiner.
Their conversation turned to possibly getting lawyers and separating, something they’d been considering for a month or two, the accused said.
They had been fighting for about a year, Schreiner said.
His partner wanted sole custody of their children, according to Schreiner, and she’d made “innuendos” about how she’d make that happen.
“She pretty much said, ‘I’ll make it so you’re a pedophile and I’ll put you away in jail,’” he said.
“That’s f—–g sick,” Schreiner said. “I love those kids.”
Asked whether he had anything to say to Brown’s family, Schreiner answered: “I’m sorry, although that doesn’t cut it.”
He also told police he had been taking anxiety medication for a few days prior to his arrest, and that “it worked well in the past.”
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Brad Mitchell suggested Ochitwa failed to ask important questions about Schreiner’s mental health.
Mitchell said the officer never asked follow-up questions about how the medication affected him the morning of Brown’s death, the voice inside his head or what was going through his mind.
“Did you fail to ask multiple questions to properly assess mental health?” Mitchell asked.
Ochitwa responded, “there are questions that you’ve asked that I did not ask at the time.”
Before proceedings began Tuesday, the victim’s sister, Tracy Brown, handed out a written statement to journalists in the courtroom.
“On behalf of Tammy’s family, we would like to thank everyone for the love and huge outpouring of support shown to us during this heartbreaking time,” the statement read.
“We appreciate the respect we have received from the media and public.”
The Crown will continue calling evidence on May 21 and 22, including testimony from Saskatchewan’s chief forensic pathologist, Dr. Shaun Ladham.
The defence will call witnesses in September. Court is also expected to receive reports from a psychiatrist and psychologist related to an assessment ordered to determine Schreiner’s state of mind at the time of Brown’s death.
At the conclusion of the trial, Justice Ronald Mills will have the option to find Schreiner not criminally responsible, in addition to guilty or not guilty.
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