Catherine Campbell murder trial shown video of green bin dragged from apartment
The jury in the murder trial of Christopher Garnier has been shown security video of a man dragging a green bin away from the Halifax apartment where prosecutors say Catherine Campbell was strangled.
The Crown has alleged that after Campbell was killed, Garnier put her in a green bin used for compost and dumped her body several blocks away under the Macdonald Bridge, where she was discovered days later.
Garnier is on trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court for second-degree murder and interfering with a dead body. He is accused of killing Campbell, a Truro, N.S., police officer who was off-duty at time, in September 2015.
He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Testimony has ended for the week, and the trial resumes Monday.
Ghostly figure seen in footage
The video, which was played in court Thursday, is from Soma Vein and Laser Clinic on Agricola Street. The business' parking lot adjoins the apartment on McCully Street where the Crown says Campbell was murdered.
On four occasions a ghostly image can be seen in the backyard of the apartment.
In the first image, a white figure appearing to wear shorts and a T-shirt walks up the driveway to Agricola Street. A short time later, the figure returns, dragging a green bin behind him.
It is difficult to make out exactly what is happening in the darkness, but RCMP Sgt. Charla Keddy testified the same ghostly figure can be seen dragging a large white object, which she said was a mattress.
The officer pointed out the object draped over the top of the green bin, and then it's moved.
Eventually, the white figure is seen pulling the green bin up the driveway in the direction of Agricola Street. A second, closer camera angle clearly shows the man dragging the green bin.
Suspected blood found
Earlier Thursday, a Halifax police testified he found what he suspected were blood droplets in the den and a bathroom sink of the McCully Street home.
Det. Const. Marshall Hewitt told a Nova Scotia Supreme Court jury he took dozens of photos of the apartment after police obtained a search warrant.
The jury also heard testimony from taxi driver Simon Zakarias, who said he picked up a man and a woman after they flagged him down on Sackville Street in Halifax.
It wasn't established during his testimony that it was Garnier and Campbell. But the jury has heard testimony and seen surveillance footage showing Garnier and Campbell embracing earlier at a nearby bar and leaving together.
Neither person appeared impaired when they were in his cab, Zakarias said. They weren't fighting, he testified, but he sensed there was tension, although he couldn't hear what the pair were saying. He drove them to an apartment on McCully Street.
CBC's blog from the trial Thursday is below. Mobile users can click here.
