Jury hears accused told 911 he killed girlfriend

A Halifax jury has heard Nicholas Butcher frantically tell a 911 call taker that he had killed his girlfriend and tried to kill himself.

Jordan Masters, a 911 dispatcher, took the stand at Butcher’s second-degree murder trial today, as a call from March 26, 2016, was played for the 14-member Nova Scotia Supreme Court jury.

Butcher was breathing heavily as he told Masters on the call he had killed his girlfriend and had cut his hand completely off.

“I killed my girlfriend. I tried to kill myself. I cut off my hand. I need help,” Butcher said.

The call taker repeatedly asked Butcher his name and age, but he never responded, often only replying with, “I’m dying.”

He gasped, wailed and sobbed throughout the entire call, and at times sounded like he was vomiting. “No,” he cried out. “Oh God.” Eventually, the call was lost. The dispatcher tried to call the number back twice. “You have reached — Nick Butcher,” the voicemail message said.

Friends of Montreal-born yoga instructor Kristin Johnson could be heard sniffling as the call was played loudly over courtroom speakers.

Butcher sat quietly and stared directly forward.

The Crown has said the medical examiner will testify the 32-yearold woman had 10 wounds on her neck, and that her death was caused by sharp force. Butcher has pleaded not guilty. Earlier, the jury heard that Butcher appeared “upset” about his relationship with Johnston the night before she was found dead in her home.

Adam Chisholm testified that the 35-year-old man came over to his place on the evening of March 25, 2016, with Johnston’s pit bull Charley.

The jury has heard Johnston was with friends at a Halifax bar that same night, and that Butcher was staying at her home on Halifax’s outskirts at the time of her death.

Chisholm says Butcher appeared “upset” when he arrived, and gave him a big hug, and throughout the evening they talked about his relationship with Johnston and how he felt she had been distancing herself from him.

Chisholm says as the night went on, Butcher’s mood lightened.

He says they had been drinking, so the plan was for Butcher to stay the night.

Chisholm says he woke up on the couch at dawn and Butcher was gone, but Johnston’s dog Charley was asleep on his spare bed.

The Crown alleges that Butcher killed Johnston and tried to kill himself at her home in Purcells Cove that same morning.