Amber Kirwan case hears from more friends of Chris Falconer

Two of Christopher Falconer's former lovers took the stand in Pictou on Friday to testify about his whereabouts the night Amber Kirwan vanished.

Falconer, 31, is charged with first-degree murder in the 2011 killing of Kirwan, 19. He has pleaded not guilty.

Tiffany Robson was one of the four women who was seeing Chris Falconer in the fall of 2011.

As soon as Robson sat down in the witness chair, she locked eyes Falconer.

She said she spent a lot of time drinking with him, watching movies on his laptop and driving around in his car.

Robson testified that she last saw Falconer around 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 8, just a few hours before Amber Kirwan went missing.

She then told the court she didn't see Falconer again until the following day.

A week later, on Oct. 15, Robson said she went with Falconer to his father's house on Heathbell Road.

She helped him clean out his car, then two police officers showed up asking about a suspicious vehicle in the area.

Soon after, Robson said Falconer drove her back to her apartment in New Glasgow.

Then, at 7:47 p.m. she said she got a text message from Falconer saying he was leaving town and he was sorry to hurt her.

"To have the accused send that text message that he's leaving town just a couple hours after he was with Tiffany Robson and they had planned to spend time together and he abruptly dropped her off is highly significant," said Crown attorney Patrick Young.

Next on the stand was Jasmine Lawrence, who said Falconer used her phone to text Robson.

Lawrence testified that she had been pregnant with Falconer's child 10 months earlier, but lost the baby. She said Falconer became her best friend.

"Some of the questions that came up were uncomfortable for a few of the witnesses as you heard, but I don't think they'll really impact on how the jury views Mr. Falconer," said Mike Taylor, the defence attorney.

Robson also said Falconer told her that he tried to commit suicide at the end of October 2011 by overdosing on Tylenol 3. She said Falconer always had Tylenol 3 on him.

She said that point didn't strike her as significant until she read about codeine found in Kirwan's system last week.

"When the Crown case was outlining the opening statement, contact was made to our office and she was redirected to the police and a follow-up investigation was done as a result of that contact,” said Bill Gorman, a Crown attorney.

One of Falconer's parole officers also briefly took the stand.

She said it was her name — Virginia — and phone number that was handwritten on a piece of paper found in Falconer's car. It was in the same plastic bag as a bloody tank top with both Falconer and Kirwan's DNA.

DNA links Kirwan to Falconer’s camper

During Thursday’s testimony, DNA expert Thomas Suzanski testified he tested more than 250 samples of DNA for the investigation.

Kirwan's DNA was found on a piece of black cloth and duct tape in a camper trailer on Hardwood Hill Road in Pictou County. The property is owned by Falconer's stepsister and he sometimes slept there. He also kept clothing in the camper.

Suzanski testified he also found her DNA on a stained black tank top found in a plastic bag in Falconer's car. After four tests, he also found a positive match on it for Falconer. A third, unknown, person's DNA was also found.

The day before, Falconer's former lover Jerrika Ebrahim told the court Falconer asked her to lie if police questioned her about his whereabouts the night Kirwan disappeared

Bill Gorman, the Crown attorney, said the evidence is another piece of the puzzle.

"The conclusions that he made were those that we were aware of going in. It's just another piece of evidence as part of our overall presentation of the case," he said outside the court.

Taylor had doubts about where the DNA came from, who contributed it and who placed it there.

"Obviously the Crown wants the jury to draw the conclusion that Mr. Falconer was in contact with that tank top at the relevant time, but it's pretty clear that there's DNA on that tank top that could lead to the conclusion that someone else is involved," he said.

Falconer's stepsister Alice Meier will testify on Monday.