Witness testifies he urged Bradley Barton to call police about bleeding woman in bathtub

Bradley Barton had to be urged to call police after he awakened in his hotel room and found a bleeding, unresponsive woman, in the bathtub of his hotel room, a witness testified Wednesday. 

John Sullivan said he questioned Barton about the woman that morning and told him to call police right away.

Sullivan told the jury he asked Barton, "Did you poke her or try to wake her?" and testified, "I believe he said he tried and there was no response."

A Calgary truck driver and mover, Sullivan was hired by Barton in June 2011 to help with a moving job near Edmonton.

"I told him right away, I said, 'You have got to phone the cops,' " Sullivan testified.

Barton, an Ontario moving company truck driver, is accused of killing 36-year-old Cindy Gladue. Her body was discovered in the bathtub of Barton's room at the Yellowhead Inn in Edmonton on the morning of June 22, 2011.

The accused told police he found a naked woman in his hotel room bathtub covered in blood but said he had done nothing wrong. He told a 911 operator that the woman came back to his room to have a shower after they had partied together.

• Bradley Barton appeared 'not really bothered' by dead body in bathroom, witness says

Sullivan's testimony focused on how Barton came to make the call to police.

Crown prosecutor Lawrence Van Dyke sought to establish that Barton knew he was in trouble when he spoke with Sullivan before police were called that morning.

Under questioning from the prosecutor, Sullivan said he met Barton in a rented van in the hotel parking lot. Sullivan told Barton they were going to have a good day.

"Brad said to me, 'Not until the cops come,' " Sullivan said.

When Sullivan asked what he meant, Barton said a woman had knocked on his hotel room door the night before and asked to use his shower. 

Sullivan said Barton told him he must have passed out, and when he awakened that morning he found a woman in the bathtub. 

Testimony inconsistencies

Barton's lawyer, Dino Bottos, emphasized the inconsistencies in Sullivan's memory. 
 
Sullivan, 67, admitted his recollection about whether he had breakfast that morning, and whether he had spoken to Barton at the hotel restaurant, had changed from statements he made to police and testimony he gave during both the 2012 preliminary hearing and Barton's previous trial in 2015.

• Accused killer told police he found dead woman in bathtub but did nothing wrong, court hears 

The prosecutor had previously taken Sullivan through the transcript of his recorded interview with homicide detectives that day in June.

In that 2011 interview, Sullivan said Barton told him they were going to have a good day "if" or "until" — Sullivan could not recall the exact wording — the police showed up. That contradicted Sullivan's testimony Wednesday, in which he insisted he was the one who told Barton they were going to have a good day.

Sullivan testified that Barton had his overnight bag in the van. He said during their conversation, Barton seemed "bewildered."

He said after urging Barton to call the police, he told Barton he would handle the unloading job. 

Barton parked the van and left. Sullivan said he did not see him again until the next day.

Forensic toxicologist Graham Jones testified that Gladue's blood alcohol level was .340, more than four times the legal limit, at the time of her death.

The trial continues Thursday.