A Saskatoon first-degree murder trial took an unexpected twist Wednesday when Justice Richard Danyliuk struck the testimony of a Crown witness who testified Tuesday.

Ranbir Dhull is accused of killing Samandeep Jhinger in Warman, Sask., in July 2020. The judge-alone trial is happening at Court of King's Bench.

On Tuesday, Dhull's wife Amandeep Kaur testified.

Punjabi is the first language of many of the principals in the trial. Kaur testified with the assistance of an interpreter who sat next to her in the witness box.

A second translator, who could assist Dhull if necessary, was also in the courtroom.

After Kaur's testimony, the translator on stand-by said he'd noted problems with the translation of both the Crown's questions and some of the witness's answers.

"[On review] there are substantial discrepancies, both in how the questions were conveyed and how the answers were conveyed," said prosecutor Tyla Olenchuk.

At one point, there were 20 errors in 20 minutes noted in the review, she said.

Kaur re-testified Wednesday.

She described how she'd been married to Dhull for six years and how their relationship began deteriorating after the first year. At two points in their marriage, police were called for domestic assault allegations.

Kaur also described getting texts from Jhinger's phone early on July 2, 2020. Jhinger was supposed to travel to Winnipeg that day. Kaur said that, in hindsight, she now suspects the texts did not come from Jhinger because the tone and content did not sound like her cousin.

She learned later that same day that Jhinger's ticket had been cancelled and that she never went to Winnipeg.

It's alleged that Dhull murdered Jhinger and then wrapped the 23-year-old's body in a carpet and hid it in his basement. He's charged with first-degree murder because she allegedly died while being unlawfully confined.