Ex-girlfriend testifies about Briscoe's role in slayings

Michael Briscoe's ex-girlfriend described in court on Wednesday how the accused killer was involved in the April 2005 slayings of Edmonton prostitute Ellie May Meyer and teenager Nina Courtepatte.

Police believe Meyer, 33, was slain on April 1, 2005, two days before Courtepatte, 13, was raped and killed on a golf course west of Edmonton. Briscoe is on trial for first-degree murder in both their deaths.

Stephanie Bird, 24, was living with Briscoe and his friend Joseph Laboucan at the time. She told the court the trio drove Meyer to a farmer's field east of Edmonton after picking her up on 118th Avenue.

Shortly after they arrived at the propery, Meyer was on the ground. Bird testified she saw Laboucan and Briscoe bent over her with their arms swinging up and down.

The men walked away and Bird went over to Meyer to check on her condition. Bird wept and shook as she described to the court how Meyer had a lot of blood on her head and was "making these gurgling sounds."

At one point, Meyer pleaded to be let go and said she wouldn't tell anyone what happened, Bird testified.

But then Laboucan and Briscoe returned. They ordered Bird back into the car and the three of them drove away. Meyer's body was found in the field a month later.

Bird is serving a life sentence for her role in Courtepatte's murder after the Supreme Court of Canada upgraded her original manslaughter conviction to first-degree murder in 2009.

Bird told court that Briscoe was at the golf course when Laboucan sexually assaulted Courtepatte. Bird said she went back to the car before the teenager was killed but Briscoe stayed behind. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Alberta's assistant chief medical examiner, Dr. Bernard Bannach, testified that Meyer died from massive head injuries.

Meyer had a skull fracture that extended from the back of her head to the front of her face, and part of her jaw had become detached, Bannach said.

Briscoe's trial is scheduled to last about six weeks. Laboucan has already been convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of Meyer and Courtepatte.