Watch 5 crucial excerpts from Garnier's interrogation in Catherine Campbell's death
Blair Rhodes | CBC News | Posted: December 8, 2017 10:21 PM | Last Updated: December 8, 2017
Questioning of Christopher Garnier took place over 9½ at RCMP detachment in Lower Sackville
It can be difficult to watch at times.
But this week the jury in the murder trial of Christopher Garnier had to watch all 9½ hours of a video showing his police interrogation following his arrest on Sept. 16, 2015, in the death of off-duty officer Catherine Campbell.
Garnier is on trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax for second-degree murder in Campbell's death and interfering with human remains. He has pleaded not guilty to both counts.
The questioning was led by RCMP Cpl. Jody Allison. Throughout the interrogation, Garnier repeatedly says he's been advised by a lawyer not to speak — a point he makes 64 times, his lead defence lawyer, Joel Pink, said this week.
But that doesn't stop the relentless barrage of questions and comments from Allison and a second officer, Det.-Const. Michelle Dooks-Fahie of Halifax Regional Police.
Just over halfway in, Garnier finally starts to talk. But he doesn't begin talking about Campbell. Instead, he begins — under heavy prodding — with what he did in the days between her death and his arrest.
The interrogation is at the RCMP detachment in Lower Sackville, in a drab grey windowless room with padded walls and a bare metal desk. It begins just hours after Campbell's body is discovered under the Halifax side of the Macdonald Bridge.
In the video, Allison is seen sitting directly across from Garnier with just a corner of the desk between them. Allison uses that desk to spread out photos to try to coax information from Garnier.
The photos include frames from a Sept. 11, 2015, security video at the Alehouse bar in downtown Halifax that shows Garnier and Campbell together. There is a photo of a man dragging a green compost bin near the apartment on McCully Street where police say Campbell was killed. There is also a photo of Campbell's body.
Dooks-Fahie sits diagonally across from Garnier, her knee almost touching his. Several times during the interview, she reaches out to pat him. Throughout much of the interview, Garnier's right leg and arm shakes.
Eventually, the two interrogators steer the conversation around to the events surrounding Campbell's death. But he starts with the green compost bin, which police say was used to transport Campbell's body to the Macdonald Bridge.
When it comes to the actual events inside the apartment, Garnier's memory appears fragmented. The police suggest scenarios to him and give him multiple-choice questions to try to draw him out.
Near the end of the interview — again with a great deal of prodding — Garnier describes and demonstrates choking Campbell as she lay on the mattress of a pullout couch.