Paramedic tells Nicholas Butcher murder trial she retrieved severed hand

A paramedic says she retrieved the still-warm severed hand of Nicholas Butcher from the room where Kristin Johnston was found dead, telling a Halifax jury she put it in a sterile package to be taken to hospital.

Butcher's second-degree murder trial has heard he cut off his own hand with a power saw and said in a gasping 911 call on the morning of March 26, 2016, that he had killed Johnston, his 32-year-old girlfriend.

Butcher, 35, was arrested at the scene and the hand has since been reattached.

Paramedic Sarah Grace Brown testified Wednesday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court that she was tasked with retrieving Butcher's hand from the bedroom of the Purcells Cove-area home where Johnston, a Montreal-born yoga instructor, lived.

Initially, she said a police officer guarding the room insisted the hand was part of the crime scene. She said it was needed for a patient, and the officer retrieved it.

Brown told the court she concealed it from prying eyes and that it was warm to touch when she placed it in what she described as a burn kit for transport. Butcher was surprisingly calm, she said.

The Crown alleges Butcher killed Johnston because she was breaking up with him. He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Paramedic Sean Collins told the court Wednesday that when he approached the scene at the home he saw Butcher lying on his stomach on the front porch with his right arm outstretched and his left arm tucked underneath him. He was shivering and crying, and a police officer was standing over him.

Butcher's hand was completely amputated, he said, but bleeding from the wound was under control. Butcher had a large laceration on his neck.

Next, Collins testified, he went to the bedroom where Johnston was found, checked her pulse and pronounced her dead at 8:08 a.m.

Tenant in the basement

The court also heard from Harry Lehmann, a basement tenant at Johnston's home, who testified he heard scuffling noises around 5 a.m. that morning.

At around 7:30 a.m., he said, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, but didn't see who it was and didn't hear any voices. He heard the person go into the basement storage room and rummaging.

Then, he testified, he heard a scraping noise and thumps as someone took something upstairs. It sounded like someone dragging an extension cord. A short time later he heard a humming, mechanical noise. He thought it was a microwave. It didn't last long.

Lehmann, who had moved into the apartment in January 2016, testified he didn't know anything about the relationship between Johnston and Butcher, and only spoke to them in passing. 

​Shortly before 8 a.m., Lehmann said he heard sirens. A few minutes later, he said he saw a police officer in the backyard, then heard loud noises upstairs and someone shouting asking whether anyone was downstairs.

Lehmann was told to put up his hands and an officer handcuffed him. He said he had never had a gun pointed at him before.

He was questioned and released without charges.

Butcher's neck injuries

The final witness on Wednesday was Dr. Jonathan Trites — an ears, nose and throat specialist who is also a head and neck surgeon at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.

Trites testified he was called in to do emergency surgery on Butcher, who was unconscious and already prepped for the operation.

There were 13 penetrating injuries to Butcher's neck, Trites said. Seven were close to the Adam's Apple and six injuries were at the jawline. If left untreated, Trites said they could have resulted in death.

A wound that penetrated Butcher's trachea went in at a steep angle, not straight in, Trites said. 

The trial began last week. The Crown expects to call about 40 witnesses in the case, which is scheduled to run for 20 days.

The CBC's Blair Rhodes blogged from court Wednesday. Those on mobile can read here.