Large pool of witnesses expected to testify

Gerald Rushton double homicide trial opens in Halifax

As many as 30 potential witnesses are expected to be called to testify during the five-week murder trial of Gerald Ashley Rushton.

Rushton, 49, is accused of firstdegree murder in the deaths of his long-time common-law wife Elizabeth MacPherson, 53, and her daughter Brittany MacPherson, 24.

Rushton, who entered not guilty pleas to both counts on Monday, is being tried by judge and jury in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax.

A jury of seven men and seven women, along with two alternates, was selected during the morning session before Justice Michael Wood.

“Tomorrow is when your real work starts,” Wood told the jury, before releasing them for the day.

The case is being prosecuted by Truro Crown Attorneys Alison Brown and Laura Barrett.

Rushton is represented by Halifax defence lawyer Terry Sheppard.

After receiving a 911 call on the afternoon of Dec. 27, 2013, police discovered the bodies of the two women, in the home Rushton shared with Elizabeth MacPherson on Pictou Road, in Valley.

Rushton was committed to stand trial on the first-degree murder charges following a multi-day preliminary hearing held in provincial court in Truro last fall.

“Ultimately, it will be for a reasonable jury, properly instructed, to decide what inferences to draw from the evidence they hear,” provincial court Judge Warren Zimmer said, at the time.

All evidence presented during the preliminary inquiry is protected by a publication ban until it is heard at trial. The jury is to receive its instructions from Wood this morning, prior to scheduled testimony from the case’s first four witnesses.

Rushton has been remanded in custody. The trial is scheduled to run for the rest of this week and all through November.