Halifax man accused in death of off-duty officer guilty of second-degree murder
HALIFAX — A jury has found Christopher Garnier guilty of punching and strangling Nova Scotia police officer Catherine Campbell, rejecting his claim that the off-duty officer died accidentally during rough sex.
The 12-member Nova Scotia Supreme Court jury delivered its verdicts Thursday after 4.5 hours of deliberations, declaring the 30-year-old Halifax man guilty of second-degree murder and interfering with a dead body.
Garnier looked down and held his face in his hands after the verdicts were read. Members of his family sobbed uncontrollably. Campbell’s family showed little emotion until they emerged from the courtroom, where they cried and hugged.
A second-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence. A hearing to determine Garnier’s parole eligibility is scheduled for May 7, 2018.
Court heard Garnier met the 36-year-old Truro police constable at a Halifax bar in the early hours of Sept. 11, 2015. The jury watched surveillance video showing Garnier and Campbell kissing and dancing before leaving the Halifax Alehouse around 3:30 a.m. The prosecution said the two went to an apartment on McCully Street, where Garnier was staying.
Crown attorney Christine Driscoll told the jury Garnier lost control during a sexual encounter with Campbell.
During a nine-hour recorded interview with police, Garnier said he hit Campbell with his fists and had his hands around her throat as she was choking, but he repeatedly said he could not remember other details from that night.
Testifying in his own defence, Garnier told the jury through tears that during sex play, Campbell encouraged him to choke and slap her.
“If she ever resisted, I would have stopped,” he said.
He said that after Campbell died, his vision became blurry, he heard loud noises and he couldn’t remember much else.
Under cross-examination, Driscoll questioned Garnier on why he did not call 911 or attempt CPR, despite his training as a firefighter.
He did not offer an explanation. Driscoll pointed to inconsistencies in his story about what happened the night Campbell died, noting he never mentioned rough sex to the police during his interview.
Garnier later told the jury he didn’t want the officers to think “I was just trying to blame it on her.”
“Well you’re blaming her today, aren’t you?” Driscoll said.
Nova Scotia’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Matthew Bowes, testified that Campbell died of strangulation and suffered head injuries, including black eyes and a fractured nose.
Psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Hucker testified that Garnier suffered from acute stress disorder following Campbell’s death, and that could explain his memory loss.
Garnier also told the jury he couldn’t remember using a large compost bin to dispose of the woman’s body near Halifax’s Macdonald Bridge, where it stayed undetected for nearly five days.
The jury saw surveillance video from a business adjacent to the McCully Street apartment that showed a man rolling a compost bin towards and away from the flat. The man was also seen throwing an object onto the roof of a building. Police later discovered it was Garnier’s silver chain.
Garnier was arrested on Sept. 16, 2015, just hours after police found Campbell’s body face down in thick brush on a steep embankment off a busy Halifax street.
The trial heard that blood spatter evidence was found inside the apartment and that Campbell’s DNA was found on Garnier’s T-shirt, necklace and the clasp of his watch. A black garbage bag with Garnier’s T-shirt and Campbell’s keys was located in a dumpster across the street from the flat, the jury heard.
Police officers testified that Garnier was twice spotted driving by the area where Campbell’s body was dumped — the second time just hours after police found her remains, forcing investigators to quickly pack up the scene and hide as the suspect drove towards it.
The jury heard he did not stop at the scene, and instead drove to Clayton Park, where he was arrested. A tarp, gloves, rope and gasoline were found in the car he was driving at the time.
The jury heard from 41 witnesses over four weeks.