Final witness testifies in Faucher manslaughter trial

Beverly Littlecrow struggled to maintain her balance and occasionally stumbled for no apparent reason, according to a friend of the man accused of killing her.

Testifying on the final day of a two-week manslaughter trial in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, Bob Freeborn said Gabriel Joseph Faucher told him Littlecrow banged her head in a fall on the steps outside their home in Kinley, Sask., “a few days” before she died on Jan. 24, 2016.

“She just wasn’t stable,” Freeborn said in response to a question from defence lawyer Andrew Mason, before noting that Faucher, whom he called “Gabe” or “Frenchie,” was “hysterical” the day Littlecrow was hospitalized.

Under cross-examination, Freeborn told Crown prosecutor Mitch Piché he could not remember which side of her body the 36-year-old favoured, and that he does not believe Faucher did anything wrong.

Freeborn acknowledged that while he was friends with both Faucher and Littlecrow, he was not with them at the time and it’s very difficult to fully know anyone, even a friend.

Faucher, 45, was arrested in February 2016 and charged with second-degree murder in Littlecrow ’s death. He pleaded not guilty to the reduced charge of manslaughter when his judge-alone trial opened late last month.

The defence contends that Littlecrow struggled with her balance because of a prior brain injury. Faucher told court she fell on the steps three days before he found her unconscious on the day she died.

Faucher went on to testify that he was in shock and didn’t mention to first responders that he’d heard a bang early that morning and felt her fall on him. He said a dent in a wall above the bed must have been caused by her hitting her head.

The Crown contends that Faucher punched Littlecrow in the head during a two-day assault — partially based on testimony from a girl who witnessed the fight — causing her to die from a brain bleed.

The dent in the wall above the bed was made either with Faucher’s fist, or by Littlecrow’s head as he punched her into the wall, Piché told court earlier this week.

Freeborn said Faucher told him a story similar to his own on the morning Littlecrow was taken to hospital. Faucher followed the ambulance into the city, Freeborn said.

Under cross-examination, Freeborn said he didn’t notice a scratch on Faucher’s face that day. It was “something I never really paid attention to,” he said.

Another witness testified previously that Faucher told her the scratch came from a cat. Faucher testified that it happened when he fell alongside Littlecrow on the steps.

Earlier in the trial, the victim’s mother said Littlecrow told her she was afraid to move to B.C. with Faucher because she thought he might kill her. The judge has yet to rule on whether that evidence is admissible.

Freeborn was the final defence witness. Mason and Piché are scheduled to make their closing arguments before Justice Gary Meschishnick on May 17.