Police photos, video dominate evidence in Week 2 of Catherine Campbell murder trial
Off-duty officer last seen alive Sept. 11, 2015; her body was found days later near Macdonald Bridge
The jury in the second-degree murder trial of Christopher Garnier this week saw video the Crown says ties him to the spot where the body of off-duty police officer Catherine Campbell was found.
Campbell was last seen alive early on the morning of Friday, Sept. 11, 2015, leaving the Halifax Alehouse. Her body was found days later in a wooded area under the Macdonald Bridge, after the 36-year-old failed to show up for work with the Truro Police Service.
The Crown alleges Garnier, 30, punched and strangled Campbell inside an apartment on McCully Street, a few blocks away from the bridge, and used a green compost bin to dump her body.
In addition to the murder, he is charged with interfering with a dead body. Garnier has pleaded not guilty to both counts. The trial at the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax resumes Monday.
Earlier this week, the Crown played video from Sept. 11, 2015, from security cameras mounted on the Macdonald Bridge. The cameras look toward the Halifax approaches of the bridge.
A shadowy figure can be seen dragging a green bin down a ramp. The same figure appears on another camera, running across a crosswalk on the other side of the ramp, still dragging the green bin. The last image played for the jury shows a man walking up the ramp, empty-handed.
David Yeo, a witness who lived in an apartment overlooking the bridge, testified he saw the man he identified as Garnier dragging a green bin that morning. He said he watched the man struggle with the bin for about 10 minutes.
As police searched for Campbell, officers spotted — and seized — a green bin from bushes near a ramp leading down from the Macdonald Bridge.
Photographs shown to the jury this week depicted an empty bin. A police witness testified they tested the inside with a chemical that showed the presence of blood.
Police searched the neighbourhood around the apartment on McCully Street where the Crown alleges Garnier killed Campbell.
One officer testified about climbing into a dumpster across from the apartment. Inside, he found a black garbage bag. When he opened the bag, he saw a key ring for a Mazda and a membership tag for GoodLife Fitness. Photos of the dumpster and the bin were among the exhibits shown to jurors this week.
Police placed Garnier under surveillance. They tracked him as he drove his girlfriend's white Ford Edge around Halifax, including passing by the area under the bridge where police had located Campbell's body.
On Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, police stopped Garnier near his home in Clayton Park and arrested him. The jury was shown photos of the Edge, including shots of the front passenger seat, which had a green tarp, yellow rope, tape and a new pair of work gloves piled on it.
Police also photographed Garnier at the time of his arrest, focusing on his hands, face and feet.
The jury of seven men and seven women have heard from 32 witnesses so far. The prosecution said at the beginning of the trial it had about 40 witnesses.
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