A key Crown witness took the stand at Tom Barrett’s murder trial in Sydney, N.S., on Wednesday, but all eyes were on the accused.

Ashley MacDonald is Barrett’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of his two children. She took the witness stand more than a week after the trial was adjourned as police tracked her down in British Columbia.

But much of the talk in the courtroom Wednesday was about Barrett’s condition. Barrett’s face was covered in visible scrapes and bruises and there was noticeable damage to one of his ears. Both the Crown and defence declined to comment on what had happened to him.

A spokesperson with the Cape Breton Regional Police confirmed that an assault took place at the correctional facility overnight, but police would not say whether that incident involved Barrett.

On the witness stand, MacDonald spoke about her relationship with Barrett. The pair met when MacDonald was 16 and Barrett was 28.

MacDonald told the court she knew of Brett Mackinnon, the woman Barrett is accused of killing, but that he never directly admitted to killing her. She said Barrett would make a gesture with his hands, “like a cracking noise, like he broke her neck,” when she asked if he killed Mackinnon.

Once while she was driving Barrett’s car, MacDonald testified he told her she was driving around with the body.

Mackinnon's remains were discovered in a wooded area of Glace Bay, N.S., in 2008, two years after she went missing.

After the Crown closed its case early Wednesday afternoon, defence lawyer Brian Bailey called Shawn Chislett to the stand.

Chislett, who now lives in Dartmouth, lived next door to Barrett in Glace Bay for 20 years.

He dismissed testimony from a previous witness who said Chislett owned the car that was allegedly used to transport Mackinnon's body.

Chislett told the court he was afraid of Barrett, and at one point thought Barrett would kill him.

The Crown is expected to call a rebuttal witness before Justice Robin Gogan decides whether a video statement from a deceased witness can be entered as evidence.

The trail is expected to wrap up with closing statements on Friday.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kyle Moore