A former girlfriend of Christopher Alexander Falconer testified that she tried to contact him after midnight on Oct. 9, 2011 but he failed to respond to her texts.
Tiffany Robson, 21, was one of four women Falconer was seeing in October 2011 and defence lawyer Mike Taylor said it's important to take that into consideration.
"When you question the relationships among three or four people or five people, you have to wonder if animosity has crept in and might be influencing some of the things that are being said," said Taylor.
Robson testified in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Friday that she met Falconer, 31, at a party in the summer of 2010.
They stopped texting once she became pregnant with another man’s baby, but they started spending time together after the baby was born. She said they were just friends but watched movies together, went to the beach and had casual sex.
Robson testified that she saw Falconer on Oct. 8, 2011 – the same night 19-year-old Amber Kirwan went to Dooly’s pool hall and bar in New Glasgow with some friends.
Kirwan left the bar around 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 9 and was last seen heading towards Big Al’s, a convenience store located just up the street from Dooly’s.
Her boyfriend, Mason Campbell, testified earlier in the first-degree murder trial that Kirwan was supposed to meet him at Big Al’s but she never showed up.
Kirwan’s partly-decomposed body was found in a shallow, muddy grave in Heathbell, N.S. on Nov. 5, 2011.
Falconer was charged with first-degree murder in Kirwan’s death. He has pleaded not guilty.
Robson testified that she attended a party at a friend’s house the night of Oct. 8, 2011. Falconer drove her to the party around 8 p.m. and Robson and her friends took a cab to Dooly’s around midnight.
She testified that she texted Falconer just after midnight.
“I love you sexy,” she said.
“Hay,” he responded.
She texted him again, asking him what he was doing but she told the court he failed to respond. She said she texted him at 1:23 a.m. and again at 1:53 a.m. but again, no response.
Robson testified that she didn’t hear from Falconer until around 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 9.
She said they continued to see each other and on Oct. 15, 2011 she accompanied Falconer to his father’s house on Heathbell Road.
Robson told the court that Falconer asked her to help clean out his car, a grey Chevy Impala. She said she cleaned out the backseat and put garbage into a bag while he organized the trunk.
She testified there were clothes and towels in the trunk and that Falconer moved some of the items from the trunk to his father’s shed.
As they were leaving, Robson told the court that a large police vehicle came up the driveway and the investigators asked Falconer if he had seen any suspicious vehicles in the area.
He told them he wasn’t in the area often and directed them to his father and stepmother, the court heard.
They left his father’s home and turned left onto Heathbell Road, where they noticed several police vehicles and officers outside searching.
Robson said Falconer turned around, went back to his father’s home and grabbed a piece of white plastic from the shed and put it in the trunk.
“I thought it was weird,” she said.
The court heard that Falconer dropped Robson off at her sister’s apartment and promised to come back and help her move into her new apartment that afternoon.
However, Robson said he didn’t show up and didn’t reply to her text messages until later that night.
“I'm leaving town and won't be coming back. It's been coming for some time. If I hurt you I'm sorry. Goodbye,” he texted.
Robson said she ran into Falconer at Big Al’s three days later, on Oct. 18. She said they made up and became an official couple that day.
She said they were getting along well and went to the library one day but she became angry when he wouldn’t let her see his Facebook page.
Robson said she went to the car and he told her that he had tried to commit suicide with Tylenol 3 tablets. She testified that he often carried Tylenol 3.
Crown attorney Bill Gorman asked her why she didn’t tell police about the Tylenol 3 when she first gave a statement. She said she didn’t think it was relevant until recently when she read reports that codeine had been found in Kirwan’s body. The Crown attorneys believe Robson's testimony about the Tylenol 3 significant to the case.
"It's something that can be obtained with a prescription but it's also something that people can obtain on the black market," said Crown attorney Patrick Young. "What's important to take away from it is that he obviously had some on him and she saw that frequently."
Virginia Clark-Druhan, a supervisor who sometimes acted as Falconer’s parole officer also testified in court on Friday.
The court heard earlier in the trial that a note with a phone number and the name “Virginia” written on it was seized from Falconer’s vehicle.
Clark-Druhan said she would give out her name and number to parolees if she didn’t have a business card.
The final witness to testify Friday was Jasmine Lawrence, another girlfriend of the accused.
Lawrence told the court she met Falconer about a year before Kirwan disappeared, when he was out on weekend visits while on parole.
She described him as her “best friend” at that time and said he did everything she needed, including taking her for groceries and taking her daughter places.
Lawrence said their relationship became sexual and she became pregnant. She miscarried and believed the child was Falconer’s.
She testified that she went to Dooly’s on Oct.8 to celebrate her birthday. She had some drinks at Dooly’s and then went to another pub.
Earlier in the evening, she said she was near the Co-op gas bar when she saw Falconer pull up. He offered to take her downtown but first stopped in a parking lot to smoke a joint. She said they stayed in the parking lot for about 10 minutes and he drove her to a friend’s house around 10 p.m.
She saw him again the next day around noon when he drove her to a friend’s home to get cleaning supplies, the court heard.
The trial resumes Monday and Falconer’s stepsister, Alice Meier, is scheduled to testify.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
