HALIFAX -- Christopher Garnier sniffled as a police interrogator described how he allegedly treated Catherine Campbell's body, using a compost bin to dump it in a wooded area, where it was found amid maggots days later.
"You took her and put her in a God damn compost bin," RCMP Cpl. Jody Allison said to Garnier during a taped police interview on Sept. 16, 2015, hours after the body of the off-duty police officer was found face down in thick brush near Halifax's Macdonald Bridge.
"That poor girl was left there like a piece of trash."
The Nova Scotia Supreme Court jury continued watching the 9.5-hour-long video Tuesday of the interview with Garnier, following his arrest in Campbell's death on Sept. 16, 2015. There's still roughly six hours left of the interrogation.
Allison often referred to the evidence against Garnier during the interview, including a surveillance video of a man rolling a compost bin away from the McCully Street apartment in which she was allegedly killed.
"I know you killed her. I already know that... I know what you did after you killed her. I know where you put her," Allison said to Garnier, dressed in a T-shirt and pants.@
He referenced photos spread out chaotically on the table between them in an RCMP interview room with grey walls.
"Those are maggots on her right there," said Allison, showing Garnier an image.
He repeatedly asked Garnier what happened inside the McCully apartment, and at one point slams his hand on the table numerous times.
"There's no doubt she was killed in the apartment, Chris. I saw blood right at the scene. Right in front of the pullout couch. That's where she died, wasn't it?" asked Allison.
"Was she trying to have rough sex? Some people do like rough sex. And it just got to the point where it went a little too far? Is that what happened?"
Garnier started to cry and replied: "I can't."
Garnier has repeated throughout the first three hours and 45 minutes of the interview that he's "not supposed to say anything."
In a portion of the tape played to the jury on Monday, Garnier said to Allison through tears: "I never wanted to hurt anybody."
The 30-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and interfering with a dead body.
The Crown alleges Garnier punched and strangled the Truro, N.S., constable inside the McCully apartment and dumped her body on a steep embankment near the bridge.
Evidence presented at the trial has indicated Campbell was seen kissing and dancing with a man at a downtown bar who bar staff identified as Garnier before leaving with him in the early hours of Sept. 11, 2015.
Last week, the defence put forth a hypothetical scenario suggesting Campbell died during a consensual sexual encounter after encouraging Garnier to choke her.
Also Tuesday, the jury heard that Campbell's blood was found inside the apartment.
Dr. Gregory Litzenberger, an RCMP forensic DNA specialist, said he tested various swabs of blood found during a search of the McCully Street apartment and found blood on several areas of the flat -- including on the TV, floor and stereo speaker -- that matched Campbell's DNA profile.
Litzenberger said he tested a T-shirt found in a dumpster across the street from the apartment, and two blood stains matched Campbell's DNA.
He said Campbell's fingernail clippings taken during an autopsy revealed Campbell's blood, while another clipping showed both Campbell and Garnier's DNA.
"Most likely, the explanation would be that there was friction, such as scratching," said Litzenberger when asked how another person's DNA would end up on a fingernail.
Litzenberger also said there was no semen found on Campbell or her underwear. The jury has heard that Garnier told Allison he did not remember having sex with Campbell.
Also Tuesday, a former digital forensics analyst for the RCMP testified that he examined a computer that was seized as part of the investigation.
Blair MacLellan said he checked its browser history and found searches related to Cipralex, an antidepressant.
He said there were queries for Cipralex and alcohol, Cipralex and violence, and Cipralex and memory loss on Sept. 15, 2015 -- days after the alleged murder.
MacLellan said he was told to look for references to "Catherine Campbell" on the computer, but found none. The computer had one user with the name Garnier, he said.
