The brothers of Ally Moosehunter appeared at Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench on Monday and testified about the day they found their sister, dead in her apartment.
Monday was the first day of trial for Ivan Roberto (Robbie) Martell, the man accused with the first-degree murder of Allison (Ally) Moosehunter.
Ally, 28, was found dead in her apartment March 4, 2020 in the 500 block of Geary Crescent. The cause of her death has not been released.
Martell, Ally’s former boyfriend, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. The charges were upgraded to first-degree murder last year.
Martell appeared in court, eyes down and hunched on the bench as Ally’s brothers, Gregory Moosehunter (Junior) and Leon Witchekan, testified.
“We were very close,” said Moosehunter, claiming that he saw his sister every day.
Moosehunter and Witchekan went to look for Ally on March 4 after hearing she hadn’t shown up to work that morning.
They said that it was extremely rare for Ally to not show up to work or answer calls from her co-workers.
“I was preparing myself for the worst,” said Witchekan, adding he knew something wasn’t right.
The brothers went to Ally’s house and knocked on the doors and the windows but there was no answer.
With the landlord’s permission, they broke into the house with a screwdriver, saying the deadbolt wasn’t locked.
“Ally always locked the doors with the deadbolt,” said Witchekan. “It’s just who she was.”
Witchekan testified the landlady told them she heard screaming the night before.
They entered the apartment and found their sister on the bathroom floor.
“She was lying in a lot of blood,” Moosehunter said. “Her face was bruised.”
Witchekan said Ally’s pants were pulled halfway down.
The brothers testified they checked to see if she was breathing before they ran out of the house, but say she was dead.
“Right on the driveway I collapsed to my knees,” said Witchekan. “When I came outside, the blood from my boots was on the snow.”
Moosehunter said he had been to Ally’s apartment the night before the killing and claimed nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
He testified Martell and Ally were there together.
“He had his arm over my sister,” Moosehunter said, recalling when he stopped at Ally’s on March 3.
Martell’s trial is scheduled for 20 days.