Stephen J. Hucker MB, FRC Practice in Forensic Correctional Phone/Fax 4l6.533.6455 Professor, Division of Forensic Suite 10!. 421 Princess Street, Kingston, ON K7L 559 University of Toronto stephcn.hucker@utoronto.ca November 25'? 2017 Mr. Joel Pink, QC Barrister Solicitor 1463 South Park Street Suite 201, PO Box 36036 Halifax, NS, 83] 359 Dear Mr. Pink: Re: Regina v. Christopher Garnicr Thank you for your letter of retainer dated January 25. 2016 in which you requested my opinions with respects to certain aspects of the case involving your client above?named. I understand that he has been charged with the Second Degree Murder of Ms. Catherine Campbell and committing an indignity to her dead body. You included the following for me to review: Police time-line Photocopies of text messages frorm?to Mr. Christopher Garnier from Mitch Devoe and Brittany Francis at relevant times Form 5.01 [Criminal Code Section 4871150)]: information to Obtain Warrant, completed by John M. Berger and signed by Judge MR. Sharer lOthc February 2.016 Report of post-modem examination by Dr. Matthew Bowes dated April 29. 2016 Transcript of audio recording of photo ID [date not identi?ed] Transcript of audio statement of Brad Randall September IS, 2015 Transcript of audio statement of Ryan Proudfoot September IS, 2015 I Transcript of Preliminary Inquiry July 1 l-l4, 2016 I Statement of Christopher Garnier to Cpl. Allison September 16''1 201 0 Miscellaneous statements Other Sources of Information I Interviews with Christopher Gamier April 2'?1 and May 28'h 2016 at Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility 0 Telephone interviews with: Ms. Brittany Francis and Mr. Mitchell Devoe Summary of Police Timeline The police timeline indicates that Ms. Catherine Campbell left her apartment just before 0100 on 11 September 2015, having called a taxi to take her to the Ale House. She arrived there at 0l08 and is seen on video entering the bar where she meets Chris Chapman and his friend John Gurney. They go out for a cigarette a couple of times and then after a time Ms. Campbell begins conversing with Chris Garnier. They are observed kissing heavily and staff needed to ask them to ?slow down.? They go outside for cigarettes a couple of times. At one point when coming back inside Ms. Campbell and Mr. Garnier were hugging and then Ms. Campbell is observed pushing him away. Ms. Campbell and Mr. Garnier leave the Ale House together at 0335 on 11 September 20l5. They head north and at 0340 they get into a cab and go to Mitch Devoe?s residence at 5714 McCully Street, arriving at 03 4 . Mr. Garnier had previously arranged with Mr. Devoe to spend the night there. At 0428 on the 11 September 2015, a white male with dark hair, later identi?ed by witnesses as Mr Garnier, is seen on video wearing light coloured shorts and a light coloured T?shirt leaving the rear of 5714 McCully Street. He walks barefoot down a business driveway towards Agricola Street. He appears to be looking down towards his hands as if he was testing. He then went to the base of a driveway at Agricola Street, looked around and walked back to the rear of 57 4 McCully Street at 0429. At 0442 on I I September 2015 he exits the rear of the same property and walks barefoot down a business driveway towards Agricola Street. He leaves the view of the camera but returns back about a minute later dragging a green garbage bin. He returns to the back of the property at 0443 with the green bin. At 0456 he is seen at the rear of the property with a white coloured ?exible mattress on top of the green bin. He tosses the mattress near a tree in the backyard. He then drags the green bin down the business driveway but gets caught on a piece of wood and has to I-J drag the green [bin] around the wood in order to proceed down the driveway of the business. He walks down to Agricola Street dragging the green bin and heads south, still barefoot. Video recordings show Mr. Garnier at the MacDonald Bridge ramp area at 0508, at the Harrington/Valor Way area at 0509 and back at the ramp area at 0524. At 0529 he returns ?'om the same direction having left on Agricola Street with nothing in his hands and returns to the rear of 5714 McCully Street. He is seen at the rear of 5714 McCully Street at 0540 with a ?ashlight a couple of times and the mattress that was lying next to the tree was moved out of sight of the camera. Meanwhile, Mr. Mitch Devoe had spent the night in the ?drunk tank? and returned home around 0930. He noted that the sofa bed was reassembled and found Mr. Garnier in the front room on the sectional sofa. Mr. Garnier knocked on Mr. Devoe's bedroom door at 130 on the l1lh September 2015 and told him he was leaving. At 1257 on 11 September 2015, Mr. Garnier, wearing light coloured shorts and a dark coloured hoodie. looked around the backyard of S714 McCally Street and went back towards the residence. At approximately 2020 on llIh September Mr. Garnier attended 18 Chadwick Street and met with Brittany Francis. They ?talked and worked out their issues," continued through text messages. On 12 September 2015, Mr. Devoe noted that his sofa bed was missing the mattress. He text messages Mr. Gautier to inquire about it and he stated that he vomited on it and threw it in the dumpster. Mr. Devoe assumed that he threw the blanket and sheets out as well because they were also missing. On I4 September 2015. Mr. Garnier stopped by Mr. Devoe's residence and stated he threw the mattress out in the dumpster and that he ordered him a new one. On the morning of 15 September 2015 Mr. Garnier called Mr. Devoe to tell him that the police would likely be trying to talk to him as he gave the police his name. The same day Mr. Devoe attended Mr. Garnier?s place of work unannounced and flagged him down as he was leaving work. They talked for about ?ve minutes. Mr. Devoe told Gamier that the police seized the dumpster in front of his apartment. 2350 [5 September 20lS the green garbage bin is located in the bushes in the area of North Street and Harrington Street. 0010 16 September 2015 police continue to search the embankment underneath the on ramp between Harrington Street and the Navy doekyard. M5. Campbell?s body was located behind a wooden box. 16 September 2015 in the early morning surveillance units were following Mr. Garnier and he came to a rolling stop near where he left Ms. Campbell?s body. He continued until he got to where he left the body and stopped but did not get out of the vehicle. He then continued back to his girlfriend?s residence and was stopped by police and was arrested. Telephone Interview Mr. ?Mitch? Devoe one 2016 Mr. Devoe works as a nurse at the Victoria Building of Health Sciences Centres in Halifax and has known Chris Garner for the past IS years. He has always thought of him as a ?very kind and positive person very thoughtful almost to a fault a people pleaser likes to please a bit ofa follower." When he came over to Mitch's place following the rift with Brittany he ?wanted to forget things." They would go out together like that once or twice a year - ?if that.? On this occasion he had ?noti?ed me that he wanted to swing by and say hi said let's have a few drinks we did talk about his staying the night i made with bed within half an hour of us leaving inebriated 1 think he bought a quart of rum bought it before he got to me maybe 150ml left also had some rum at home didn?t buy any beer that night . .. some marijuana . .. couple of hits in a bong maybe half a gram." Mr. Devoe said he doesn?t remember anything a?cr the ?rst bar they went to. He does not remember anything about a woman Chris was talking to. Mr. Devoe ended up being taken at some point in the evening to the "drunk tank.? He was released from there around 9.30 the following morning ?still not completely sober" and walked home arriving about 10.15-10.30. He entered by the back door of his place and found the bed no longer made up. He didn?t know initially if his friend had left already but found him asleep on the coach. He said, ?My next memory is of Chris coming in around 11.30 woke me up only about 5 seconds before he left." He didn?t see him the following day as he was working that night and Chris came over to the house the day after that. Mitch indicated that ?nothing much stood out normal self a?erwards I thought he was a bit off a little less talkative" On the Friday around 5.00pm as he was getting ready to go to work he talked with Chris for about an hour. He ?didn't mention anything at the time about the mattress I found out through texts later maybe that night." Mitch met up with him again at some point after he was interviewed by the police, he thought the following Monday. The police asked Mitch not to come back into the house and instead he went to see Mr. Garnier at his new workplace. Again, ?he didn't seem too off to me." Mitch stated he feels ?just as much in the dark [about the situation] as everybody else don?t really know what happened apart ?'om the papers and what the family have told me.? He doesn?t see Chris as "having malicious intent" and thought [the police] made a mistake I told the police they must have the wrong person it can?t be true everyone in shock or denial." Video Statement of Christopher Garnier to Police in September 16'? 2015 This videotaped interview takes place on September 16, 20l5 from 1:02 PM to 10:27 PM and was conducted by Cst. Allison and Dlet. Dooks-Fahie. Most of the ?rst half of this interrogation consists of Cst. Allison doing most of the talking. ln roughly the second half Mr. Garnicr appears to start to recall or to divulge some ?thher details of what transpired. Constable Allison offers various observations and suggestions. For example, he suggests that Mr. Gamier is ?not a bad You just made a mistake." And further, ?something terrible happened here, and I don't think it was your for it to end up like it did." Constable Allison mentions that the police had Spoken to his friend Mitch. ?he thinks you're an ace of a guy." The of?cer indicates his belief that ?she came up to you,? meaning that he didn?t abduct her and, ?i think she went there willingly with you." The of?cer indicates to him that they have spoken to his girlfriend Brittany Francis. He indicates that ?she thought you were the greatest guy until things kind of unraveled a little bit." The of?cer indicates that they have interviewed a lot of people and he doesn?t believe that ?it wasn't a planned thing. It was a thing that got out of control." He goes on to say he doesn?t believe that Mr. Gamier planned on abducting or killing Ms. Campbell. He adds, ?We know something terrible happened at his (Mitch Devoe?s) place. . . 1 have some video that I want to show you I think it speaks for itself.? He submits that his behaviour suggests ?here?s somebody that's calculated, that?s this guy, what the heck is he doing? Something had happened, you you didn't know what else to do, right? So you went and did what you did." The of?cer indicates on the video what appears to be happening. He then makes the point that Mr. Garnier appears not to be wearing any shoes when he is moving a green garbage bin. He indicates that whatever happened took place over a relatively short time, perhaps 45 minutes, between when they get to the house and to him walking out to the side of the road with Ms. Campbell dead. The of?cer points out that he mast?ve been ?stressed out? with starting up a new job and splitting up with his girlfriend. He notes that he?s showing that he is remorseful. At this point Mr. Garnier responds to some of the of?cer's questions by pointing out that his lawyer had indicated that he should not say anything to the police adding, ?I?ve never been in trouble before. I don?t know what to do.? Nevertheless, the officer goes on to point out various possible interpretations of the information they've gathered and Mr. Gamier continues to say that he's not supposed to talk. At other times he offers that he cannot remember some detail. The of?cer emphasizes how much trouble they've had to put Mitch Devoe through saying, ?so not only did we kick him out of his house, with tearing it apart, right? Because we've got to When they go in the starting examining the they look for all kinds of different things, right?" A little later the of?cer goes on to say how he interprets the evidence so far with: ?This is showing me that Chris Garnier went and killed Catherine and methodically and intentionally cleaned up and tried like hell to dispose of everything." A little later a?er some other questions he asks, ?What does all this stuff look like? It looks like somebody?s planned this shit out, bud. Attempts to get rid ofeverything." Mr. Garnier again says that he's not supposed to talk on the advice of his lawyer. Constable Allison asked him if he intended for Ms. Campbell to end up as she did when they went home from the bar and he says not. Again, the of?cer points out that he had no shoes on when he moved the green garbage bin. He encourages Mr. Garnier to give ?your version of the events.? Constable Allison asks Mr. Garnier if he?s taking any medications and he indicates that he takes Cipralex, an antidepressant. Mr. Garnier asked to listen to part of the videotape of his girlfriend as just wanted to hear her voice.? The of?cer points out again that he is a ?good guy? and that ?You made a mistake That whole thing after, that's all panic." Several times subsequently, Mr. Garnier indicates that his lawyer had advised him not to say anything to the police. The of?cer asks him if he had sex with the victim and he says not or at least he doesn?t think so, stating that if he did he thinks he would remember. The of?cer again points to the evidence that the police had obtained and says, ?what it appears is that you went out of your way to go and hide this stuff, trying get rid of evidence, to go back to the scene. What were you planning on doing when you are going back there last night?" He indicates that he wanted to see if the police were ?nished at Mitch?s house. He also suggests to Mr. Garnier that he was aware that he was being followed by the police and Mr. Gamier admits that he thought at some point that this was the case. The of?cer points out that he had some items in his car and wondered what he was planning on doing with them. Mr. Gamier said, ?l wasn?t sure what 1 was going to do. I thought about I don?t know where was going to go. I couldn't do 1 just couldn?t think twice about not seeing her [Brittany] anymore.? The of?cer asks him what the victim said or did, ?to you that made you snap" he explicitly asks him: ?Was she trying to have rough sex And it just got to the point where it went a little too far. Is that what happened?" Mr. Garnier is weeping at this point, and says, can't even think." Constable Allison later indicates that he?s trying to understand what happened in the living room at Mitch?s house. He notes that he doesn?t see any injuries on Mr. Garnier and there is no one else except him and Ms. Campbell at the apartment. He points out that ?her stuff? is found 75 feet from the front door. The mattress is gone from on the sofa bed. New sofa bed which Mitch just bought so that you could stay You leave, as I showed on the video. You go outside and go out and back. You can still that's the mattress right there, leaning up a tree or There was a 4 4 thing here when you were trying to get you had to go around it when you pulled the bin Do you remember where the mattress went? You went back to here again on Monday morning too, right?" Mr. Gamier says, ?I'm not sure why. i went there Monday Maybe a?er work." Asked how it is that he can?t remember some of the details about what he did after the incident. He says, was drunk.? The of?cer points out that ?when something like this Most people sober up pretty quick." About 5:15 PM. Cst. Allison exits the room and returns with D.Cst. Dooks-Fahie. Not long after this Mr. Garnier repeats that his lawyers told him not to talk with the officers. Cst. Dooks-Farhic indicates: ?You can Chn's. This is the place. This is the time. You can." Mr. Garnier continues multiple times to try to resist answering their questions but, with continued interrogation and prompting, around 6.30 pm Mr. Gamier eventually relents and discloses more of what he remembers happened. Shortly before this Constable Allison mentions that witnesses interviewed by the police who were with him the weekend following the incident, ?said you weren't showing any signs of you were your regular old self." He also asked Mr. Garnier if he had sex with his girlfriend that weekend and he said that he thought he had. The of?cer asks him what all the material, including a tarp and gasoline, that was in his car was intended for. Mr. Garnier said that he was possibly going to leave - was going to go somewhere. I don?t know where." He admitted that he had thought about ?going back down there to get her.? Mr. Garnier denies that Ms. Campbell was alive when he put her in the green bin and said he thought she was dead by that time because she wasn?t moving or breathing. He is directly questioned: ?You?re telling me that she wasn?t alive?" And he replies, think." He denied that he checked her pulse or anything to make sure she wasn't still alive. Having con?rmed that she didn?t suffer the officer asks him how it ended and he said it was over quickly, he thought. Asked what happened that Ms. Campbell was put in the garbage bin Mr. Gamier said, can?t even remember getting back to Mitch?s place or the cab drive or going into the house.? The of?cer points out that obviously if she paid for the cab she could've backed out at any point, but she had wanted to go back there so he didn?t have to drag her into the house. Then, around 6:30 PM Mr. Garnicr states: ?1 don't even remember most of the conversation when we were at the Ale House. I remember being by the front doors. I remember Mitch was down by the bar, and I went to talk to him and then that was the last time I seen him. I can?t remember who approached who or how many times we went outside. I know we went outside. I was talking to one of the workers there. I?m not sure what time we got in the cab. I don?t remember getting in the cab, and 1 don?t even remember how we got inside [the house], but it must've been unlocked because I didn't have the key on me then. I'm trying to remember. I remember her being on the bed on the pullout, and she was bleeding. I don?t remember what happened." He indicates that he thinks that she was bleeding from her nose because it was all over her face and adds, ?That?s how I know she wasn't alive when she went in the bin, because I could hear her taking take her last breaths." He indicated that at the time this happened he was standing in the doorway. Then he said he remembered being in the backyard but didn't remember taking the bin. He said, don?t want to hold back from you." He said, didn?t know how to say it I?ve been trying to remember what happened." Asked if anything was said or any tension between them and he replied, can?t remember. I don't think. That's all I could think about. That?s why haven't gotten any sleep. I want to remember." He's asked if the reason why he got rid of the mattress was because of blood on it and he indicated it was, but he said there was mud on it as well. He indicated to the of?cer that he thought that Ms. Campbell had all her clothes on. She was on the bed when she took a last breaths and this was only a matter of a few seconds between noticing the blood and then her last breaths. He said he didn't know how he was feeling and thinking at the time. The of?cer indicates that when her body was found. She didn't have her clothes on. So he asked what happened to them. He replied that he didn't know, that maybe when she slid down the hill they came off adding, don?t think I took anything off of her. . . Like I said, 1 don't think we had sex .. . I would've I would?ve felt it the next day.? The officer asked him speci?cally whether ?there was any kind of talking about .. . rough sex or anything like that were you trying to choke her or anything like that?" noting that ?some people are into that kind of thing." Mr. Garnier says ?i can?t remember." The of?cer adds that ?sometimes when they have sex they like that to happen as well a little but Mr. Garnier replies, don't know why this happened." The of?cer asked when he went down with the garbage bin whether anybody stopped him or talked to him or anything like that. He said he didn?t think so.. He also couldn?t explain why he didn?t have his shoes on. A little later, the o?icer points out that it must be a couple of miles there and back. The of?cer asked that the very ?rst time, when he walked out to the road, it looked as if he was trying to ?gure something out, but he said he couldn't remember what that was. He apologized for ?taking so long to tell you." The of?cer asked where he was in relation to Ms. Campbell when he saw that she was bleeding and he said that he was standing up at the foot of the bed. He didn?t see her fall down and thinks she was just lying on the bed. The of?cer asked him whether he hit her with his hand or with an object and he replies that he doesn't know. He is unable to remember how many times he went back to Mitch?s place, but he thought he went back after work on the Monday and he thought also before his father?s birthday on the Sunday, but he couldn?t remember what times. He also couldn?t remember when he got rid of the mattress. In order to help him try and remember what happened. Cst. Dooks-Fahie asks him what is the ?rst thing he remembers in the house and he said that it is the deceased on the bed. She is not saying anything to him and he cannot recall how she got on the bed. He says this bothers him the most, and adds, wouldn?t do something like this." He cannot remember if she said anything to him and he cannot remember if there was an argument. He said that she ?took one or two breaths and then she didn?t anymore." After that, he said, don?t know. I can?t remember what I did right I don?t know how long I Spent from then to take her outside.. . I don't know why I?d be walking in my bare feet. . . why I almost got hit by a truck . . . I want to I?m not a monster.? He remembers he lost his chain the next day. This was a present from Brittany made just like sterling silver. He doesn?t know when it was taken off or came off but he bought a new one so that he wouldn't have to let Brittany know that he lost it. He said he got to Mitch's ?rst the day of the incident, think we sat around for a little while just watching TV or something .. . or xbox. We smoked out of this bong and talked about what it happened with me and Brit. And he was trying to cheer me up because he was saying how great it was that I got a new job. And then he said, well, we should celebrate then. So I went to get a bottle of rum we went back to his place and we drank for I don?t know how long. We didn't ?nish the bottle." This is about 7:16 PM in the interview. He said bought the rum at a liquor store and it was a quart size or 750 ml. He said he ?wanted to keep it light because I don?t really like going downtown that much So I said we should go to Boomers, and we got a cab, went down. Boomer was closed so we decided to go into Cheers instead, and Pat not sure how many drinks we had there. We had shots, and we were probably there for an hour or two hours I can't remember whose idea it was to go to the Ale House. Like I was saying, it might have been mine, because I used to work there and we both like it there. We got to the Ale House, and 1 don?t even know how long 1 was with Mitch for there. Like I said, I remember him being at the bar, and I know that he was really drunk then because I went down to check on him. I was back up and around the table next to the front door. 1 was talking to Brad, one of the security guys who was there. I don't know if she came up to me at the table, or if we were dancing. I know that we made out there, and I'm sure at some point can?t remember if it was outside or inside, we talked about the fact that my relationship was ending I think we went outside a few times. I'm not sure. I think I might?ve smoked. I don?t know why we were outside so I don't know if? we called the cab or flagged it down. I think we ?agged it down. I can?t remember cab ride. I can?t remember going into the house. I don?t know what we did in there. I can?t remember. And then she was laying down towards the foot of the bed .. . Her head was down towards the foot of the bed and her legs were up towards the top, I think.? He added that she was "kind of sideways on the I was standing in the hall or doorway from the hallway to his living room." The next thing he said that he remembers is, ?We were just there in the backyard. I don?t even remember taking the mattress back outside. I can't I remember Mitch coming in the morning, asking me why 1 Li} was on the couch and not the pullout. And then I can?t remember what the reason was that I gave him. And then he went to bed." He left Mitch?s place around o?clock next day and hejust took his clothes with him. He said he couldn?t remember how much of the quart of rum that he bought was le?? don't know. Maybe that much left in the bottle." He added that with they were ?mixing it with 7-Up. may be. I don?t think it was Coke." He said that Mitch wake him up and they were talking. He had been asleep on the coach. He said, don?t remember walking with the cart. 1 dragged the mattress in the backyard. I can't remember if I grabbed garbage bags out of his 1 don?t know if that was before or after I took the mattress in the backyard I seen her on the mattress when she took her last breath. I can?t remember getting there. I don?t even know how long we were talking to each other at the Ale House. I think maybe it was an I don?t know." He is asked to clarify how many last breaths she took and he said he thought it was two. He saw blood on her face and thought it was from her nose. No other part of the body was injured as far as he knew. She didn't say anything at that time. The of?cer returns to what happened on the bed and asks Mr. Gamier if Ms. Campbell was saying anything and he said not. He was not sure if she was conscious. He?s asked if Mr. Gamier tried to help her or what happened and he said, ?i think I just stood there." He said her breaths were quick and he was just a couple of feet away. He said he didn?t know whether he went over to her before she died. He said, don?t know how long I left her on [the mattress] before i moved it.? Cst. Allison asked how he took her out and he said he dragged the mattress out. He said he can?t remember getting the garbage bin or where it came from. Asked if he can remember having any cuts or anything like that on his body, he said, think there was a scratch on my I don?t 1 think it was item that He didn?t know whether it was a nail scratch but he didn't bleed it was just a surface injury. Then he noticed his chain had gone. Mr. Gamier said he couldn?t remember being with the victim in the house. The of?cer suggests he must remember this ?because you said you never moved or anything like that, but how would that get there?" He replied: ?Maybe when was taking the mattress off. I?m not sure." He reaffirmed that he was con?dent that she was dead and he was asked if he did any checks to make sure. He replied: when I heard the breath. I I knew." He doesn?t think he checked her pulse or anything. He denied remembering any talking or any screaming or anything like that. The of?cer says: ?So you take her outside on the mattress. She ends up in the bin, right? and then the mattress. .. which was out by the fence, whatever it is there, the fence and the tree. And then you leave, you come back, and then you do something with the mattress. You mentioned that you took it in the house.? Mr. Garnier says, can't remember taking it in the house or what I did with the mattress," the of?cer reminds him that he told Mitch Devoe that he put it in the dumpster. He says in reply, think so I don't know where else I would?ve put it." He agrees with the of?cer that he was saying that he just kind of froze when she was taking her last breath, and he didn?t think of trying to help or anything like that didn't know what to do.? He said he has no reason to hold anything back at this point. He didn?t remember ?hitting her or anything like that" or her trying to hit him. Neither could he remember any kind of argument or disagreement don't know. I don't think He reaf?rmed that he is ?pretty sure" that he never had sex with her. The officer asks if there?s any chance there was anything else that could've hit her and he said he didn?t know. He said, don't think there would have been anything else, but like I said, I don't remember disposing of anything else." He added that ?there?s a shelf right next to the wall. I don't know if the something on there that could?ve been used.? After a brief break Dooks-Fahie asks further questions. She asks him if there's ?any part that bothers you more than another" and he answers: ?Seeing Hearing There was a Asked what he felt at that moment he said: don't know. I was just numb. I didn't know what Maybe was just one long gasp, but i know that a?er I didn?t hear and hear breathing anymore. She wasn?t She just didn?t move anymore." He was asked if he can remember the route he took to get to McCully Street in the cab. He thought previously that he might have flagged the cab down saying ?probably it was right in front of the Ale There are always taxis back and forth there I probably gave him directions. I didn't know the address I don?t remember getting out of the cab." The door of the residence was open, as was apparently usual, and anyway he didn?t have the key with him. He told the detective, don?t know what we did in there" and said he can?t remember Ms. Campbell saying anything. He recalls the sound of her breath and that it wasn?t rapid breathing, ?she was gaSping." He didn?t do anything to help as he ?thought it was too late. I didn?t know what to do.? He said after this, can't remember if I went outside ?rst or if I took the mattress outside or how long it took." He said does remember that she was still on the mattress because it was a queen-size mattress and he had to pull the sides up to get through the regular door. She was still on the mattress. He said he was not sure if he went to get the green bin ?rst, ?and then I don?t know where I got it 1 know i don?t know how she was laying 1 Well, I think I took it back up to where she was in the But I don?t remember putting her in." He could not recall whether there was anything already in the green bin. He said, don't even know where I put it. I know I seen a picture. I don?t even know where that is." He couldn't recall what he did with the mattress but don't think it would've ?t in the green bin." He can?t remember when he took his own shirt off and is not sure if he had it on when he pulled the mattress outside. With regard to his chain he said he couldn't remember, but he ?didn?t notice it gone until the next day." He said, don?t remember taking her down there? and said he couldn't remember being aware of the bin was left in some bushes, standing up or pushed over. He doesn?t remember the walk back. The next thing he remembers is talking to Mitchell the next day. Mr. Garnier said that when he drove back down to the site he didn?t know exactly where he had left Ms. Campbell's body and the of?cers asked him what he was looking for when he went back there. He said, don't know if I wanted to move but I couldn't because I didn't want to go see her because I didn?t want it to be real had my bag in case was going to go I didn?t even think that far ahead.? When asked if he was looking to find it he said, think I was just driving around to see if the police was still around.? He had seen one vehicle outside Mitchell's house and was fairly certain he was being followed. He said he just wanted to go back home and he drove up the street and stopped and he was arrested. Cst. Allison tells him that hejust talked to some other investigators who spoke to the cab driver. The driver was quite observant. He said he had been driving a cab for a long time and know people. The of?cer says, ?He?s saying that when he observed you guys getting into the cab. hailing the cab down and getting out of the cab and walking to the house that you didn't appear that intoxicated I guess what you'd call mild intoxication, but he said you didn?t look like you guys were having any problems like getting the doors open and things like that. Either one of you right? your mind was pretty good functioning You made it to the You were down at the Ale House .. . you drank some stuff earlier, okay, but at the Ale House you weren?t falling down drunk then after this happened, you know, if you look at the video you can see you walking around behind the room walking around the backyard, you know, you're taking the compost bin, and you know, you're doing all the things like, your mind is working, and you know, like I?ve been to when they may not want to remember everything that happened, because it?s not good, right? Mr. Garnier replies, ?but I've always been like that when 1 drink. A lot of ldon?t remembera lot of the night." He said he wanted to remember and just keep thinking of what could?ve gone wrong." if: Cst. Allison then moves on once again to questioning Mr. Garnier about the blood on her face. He suggests this is the par he is having trouble thinking about and asks, ?so was it an object you hit her with, or did you his or with your hand?" Mr. Garnier says, don?t I want to remember. I'm trying to I?m not lying to you." Ultimately he said, don?t think it was an because I don't remember there being anything laying around." The of?cer then suggests it was his hands and he said, don?t know. My hands were never sore." The of?cer suggests that it's ?tons-a. she got hit in the face. Chris, I think you I think you know How she got hit in the face." He said, don?t know if I use my hands.? The of?cer asks, ?so you hit her with something in your hand or did you just hit her with your hand?" don't I'm trying to remember. seeing her. I'm trying to remember what happened before. I?m really trying." He reaf?rms that he did not think that he?d used an object and he didn?t clean any objects up as far as he remembered. He is then asked if he hit her with his ?st, closed ?st and he replies that he doesn't know but that his hands weren't sure. He added, ?ifl knew I?d tell you. I?ve no reason to hold back anything else at this point." The of?ces suggested this is ?a blackout of convenience." He then says after continued questioning. don?t know if it would?ve been my hands, my arms. I didn't have any bruising anywhere. I didn?t have any pain in my hands my arms. So I'm not sure what I used.? A little later, the of?cer suggests a number of times he might have hit her, but again replied, honestly couldn?t have done this a signi?cant amount of times because no marks on me. There?s no bruising. I didn?t feel any pain in my arms or anything like that." He later says that it would ?probably be a closed ?st if I was going to do it." But he adds, feel like at this point I?m just telling you what you want to hear. I don't know for sure." Again he said, ?to this point I have no reason to hold anything back. There?s no reason for me to say I didn?t.? The of?cer persists that the part that?s missing is how Ms. Campbell got the blood on her face. Mr. Garnier says he's trying to picture the scene and he just sees himself standing there. The of?cer rejoins, ?but a minute ago you actually said you hit her with your arms or your ?st and you?re certain there was no object." He replies, ?well, she was struck and I don't think hit her with an object, so the only logical thing would be my hands I don't my hands never felt sore." Ultimately, the of?cer says don?t buy it." Mr. Garnicr says, ?Maybe 0r three times. I don't think any more than with my with a yeah, I think." Mr. Gamier says, feel like at this point I'm just telling you what you want to hear. I don?t know for sure.? He is asked, ?why he was afraid to say that at ?rst and he says, ?because I wasn?t really sure how many times.? He stated he did not remember either of them saying anything when they got into the house and is not sure how she ended up on the bed. He said he didn?t know how it proceeded item being on the bed to him punching her Face." The officer asked him, ?was how we talked earlier about a catalyst? That had to be something that made you think to punch her." And he replies, ?That's the biggest thing I can?t ?gure out.? Cst. Allison asks if he was angry at her and he says, don?t know. I mean, I don't know if I was angry afterwards. I don't think I was. Or the next day. I don't know. I wasn?t angry that night. I was upset. I was stressed. I don?t know if she said anything to me to make me mad at her. I don?t know.? He then suggests various ways he might?ve struck her, but again he said he has no idea how this would?ve happened. The of?ces leave the room at 9:07 PM and return a few minutes later. They have a few remaining questions. Cst. Allison mentions that Brittany has said he has never beaten her and was never afraid of him. He suggests there is no history of punching women randomly but nevertheless he asks what the victim had said to him. Mr. Garnier says he doesn?t know and the of?cer rejoins, ?But you were very angry, right? Like you said a minute ago, you were very angry You know, why else would you do that, right?" Mr. Garnier admits he was stressed. At the end of this exchange, the question is asked. ?The reason that you can hear her last gasps, the last breaths Chris, why is that? And he replies ?my hands were on her neck.? Asked for how long he says he is not sure and he doesn?t remember why he started this." The of?ce tries again a little later asking ?do you know what made you so angry to get to this point, Chris?" And he says, really don?t know. I don?t know. I don't think I really even wanted to have sex. I don?t know why I would?ve told her to come back with me, where if I told her to come back with me, or if she wanted to come back with me." Again he says that he's not sure about some of his answers ?a lot of it. I can?t remember.? The of?cers later ask how he was positioned when he put his hands around her neck. He demonstrates how he thinks his hands were positioned. He then says that ?she?s choking" and didn?t think she was struggling very much. He admits, ?I?m putting pressure" but says really didn't hear choking when it was happening.? He says he removed his hands as she was gasping and then she suddenly ?just didn?t anymore." In the last few minutes of the interview the of?cer asked again if he remembers feeling angry and he replies, don?t even know if 1 was feeling anger. I don?t know what I was like it wasn?t real. 1 don?t [didn?t know what I was doing until I was already doing it and then it was too like I don't know why it by that time it was already done." He admits it happened very quickly. Abstract of Some of the Evidence Given at Preliminary Inquiry July 11-14, 2016 Evidence of Christopher Mitchell Davao Mr. Devoe had known Mr. Garnier since school days, approximately [3 or l4 years. He works as a nurse at a Halifax hospital. He indicated that on September 10, 2015 he and Chris Garnier made plans to have a couple of drinks and go out downtown. They got together about seven or eight in the evening and thinks that Mr. Garnier drove to his home in his car. Mr. Gautier had told him that he and his girl?iend Brittany had split up and so Mr. Devoe asked him to ?come out and just talk about it and have a few drinks.? He said that Mr. Garnier provided the alcohol and brought a quart bottle of rum. He said: ?he and I split about, about two thirds of it." They mixed it with 7-Up. In addition, they smoked some marijuana. On his arrival, he describes Mr. Garnier as being ?down his mannerisms were not. . . congruent with. . . being happy; just kinda ?at affect, I suppose." Mr. Devoe had planned for Mr. Gamier to stay overnight in his residence on McCully Street and provided a pullout couch in his den for his use. Mr. Garnicr arrived about 3 o?clock and they stayed his home for about three hours drinking the alcohol and smoking marijuana. He said they started drinking between nine and 10, and prior to that smoking marijuana. They then decided to go out to a bar and took a taxi. They went to a bar called Cheers in downtown Halifax where they got a seat and bought some drinks. Mr. Devoe says that he was intoxicated at that point. He could not remember anything about Mr. Garnier?s condition as a result of his own consumption of alcohol and marijuana. He himself purchased some beer at Cheers and a barmaid brought over some shots, he thought one each. He did not observe Mr. Gamier consume anything other than the one shot at Cheers. He said that he didn?t remember anything after that, saying, remember a little sliver in time of being at the police station, and of being brought in, and then I forget again, and then I remember waking up in a cell, communal cell." This was on September II, 2015 at approximately 8 or 8.30 AM. He was released about an hour later and he walked home. He walked through the back door that had been left unlocked and he noticed that Mr. Gamier wasn?t asleep on the pullout that had been provided but found him asleep on the sectional in the living room. He himself then went to bed to sleep. Prior to going out he had left the foldout couch rolled up and he had set it out with sheets and blankets. As far as he remembers the cushions were off the couch, but he can?t be certain. He admitted that when he was questioned by the police the cushions were off it, but he didn?t know if he left the cushions off. He believed that it was all done up and the cushions were on it. The next thing Mr. Devoe remembers was that Mr. Gamicr came into his bedroom to tell him and he was leaving. He didn?t think he responded, but just rolled over and went to sleep again. He thought this was about an hour after he got back to his residence. He woke up later in the day at about four or 5 PM. After he woke up, he eventually noted that the mattress was missing From the pullout sofa as well as some bedclothes. Mr. Devoe is asked about some of the text messages which he exchanged with Mr. Garnier and reviewed some screenshots of the texts that he was shown. The ?rst was when he announced that he was ?of?cially single" and asked if he could stay at his place. It was for that reason the Mr. Devoe went out and bought a pullout bed for him. At 9:03 AM on the Friday Mr. Devoe texted Mr. Garnier. He did not know whether Mr. Garnier was still at his home or not, but he sent the text as he was released from the police station. The next text was sent at 6:56 PM on the Friday in which Mr. Garnier asks Mr. Devoe, ?How you feeling? lol." Mr. Gamier indicates that he is at home waiting for his girlfriend so they can talk. He says, ?We both want to work things out. So we?ll see how it goes. Was talking to some girl at the Ale House about us, and she was just, like, I think you two should talk. It?s obvious you are still in love with her. We'll see how it goes anyway." The next text was sent on Saturday at 9:25 AM from Mr. Devoe in which he expresses the hope that ?it went well." Mr. Garnier replies at l2:28 PM on Saturday saying, ?Thanks. Things did go well. What are you up to today?? Mr. Devoe replied at 2:l3 PM saying he was at work and asked Mr. Garnier what he is doing. He replies. wanted to see if you wanted to hang out. What time are you off?? Mr. Devoe indicates that he gets off work at 7 PM. He jokingly suggests ?getting loaded" but quickly adds that he's not touching alcohol again for a very long time. Adding1 in response to a question from the Crown, ?because I felt pretty ashamed of myself? for getting arrested and put in the drunk tank. The next text, from Mr. Devoe, on Saturday at 9:32 PM asks, Have you seen the mattress for the pullout couch? Mr. Gamier replies, ?Haha. Yeah, so kinda get sick and did not make it to the bathroom. Apparently. I thought it would be a good idea to of it and order you a new one. It will be here by Thursday. LOL. Son-y, bro. I didn?t want to try to clean it. it was soaking through (sad face)" Mr. Devoe tells him it?s not a problem as ?gured that?s what happened. but, ?you should?ve just told me. I wouldn?t care." He continued, was so baf?ed as to why the couch was all done back up. I was, like, am I crazy, did I not set that up like I thought? Man, it was a ridiculous night. Do you have any idea how or why I got arrested?" Mr. Gamier replies, ?No way. I felt pretty bad man. It?s your new couch. Ha ha. Fuck, have no idea. I remember talking to that off-duty cop, and you are at the bar talking to someone, I think. Don't know how you got arrested, though. Did they find you, as well?" Mr. Devoe explains that he didn?t know what Mr. Garnier was referring to about an off-duty police officer or about Mr. Devoe talking with someone. The next text says yesterday 3:39 PM a text asking how the day is going he assumes From Mr. Gamier. The next sent today's 12:37 PM. The message, from Mr. Gamier, simply says, ?Did they mention anything about you breaking probation And the message just stops abruptly. Mr. Devoe is questioned about a number of statements that he gave to the police and he says that the ?rst day he gave two statements and then the following day a separate one. He is asked to think back to September 15, 20l5, which was a Thursday. Later, Mr. Devoe is asked by the Crown if he had any conversation with Mr. Garnier about where he went after the Ale House, before he was incarcerated. Mr. Devoe says that Mr. Garnier did go back to his house eventually. He is asked if he had any conversation with Mr. Gamier, before he was arrested, about the off-duty officer that he suggested was talking to them and where the two of them went after they left the Ale House. He replied that he did not. In cross-examination, Mr. Devoe reiterates that he had little or no current recollection of the rest of the night after he was at Cheers. He admits that he had a considerable amount to drink and he doesn?t remember walking from Cheers up to the Ale House. He did not remember being asked to leave the Ale House and he doesn?t remember being arrested or where he was arrested and then put into a paddy wagon and taken to the drunk tank. Evidence of Ryan Prorrdfaor Mr. Proudfoot indicates that he works as a bartender supervisor at the Halifax Ale House. He indicated that he knew Mr. Gamier for about six years as they had worked together for about a year or a little longer. Mr. Garnier worked there as a doorman. He indicates he did not know Catherine Campbell and had never met her. He indicated that he knew Brad Randall, who was a security man at the Halifax Ale House at that time and that they had worked together. He is asked about the events of the evening of Thursday, September and the early morning hours of September l, which was a Friday. He agrees that he was working on September 10. He agrees that on September lO-l he saw Mr. Chris Garnier and says, ?So when Christopher Gamier came into the establishment, it's been a while since we?ve seen each other or We seen him, and everything seemed fine, happy. So we said hi, as we shook hands, and then he ordered a drink. I believe he was with two of his friends. Throughout the evening 1 was still bartending, and he went on his way. And shortly, throughout the evening, he came back and was sitting at my bar, kind of looked a little down. 1 asked him what was going on. What was happening. He had mentioned that he and his girl?'iend had broken up at that time." After this Mr. Gamier ordered another beer from Mr. Proudfoot and then went back to enjoying the evening. Asked how much he thought Mr. Gamier had to drink that night he said that he had served him about three drinks. ?a dra?, a bottled beer for sure.? However, he did not see him with any hard liquor as far as he can remember. He said he first saw him at the beginning of the evening with two other men he didn?t recognize. He did not think he was intoxicated when he ?rst saw him and as far as he could tell his level of intoxication did not change much over the time he interacted with him. He remembers seeing him that night with one woman that he was speaking to. He says that they were sitting or standing around a table talking. That was as much as he knew. He said there was another person standing with them, but he didn?t know who it was. He described the woman as blond and fairly petite. He thought he saw Mr. Garnier over about two hours that evening. He said that the time he observed Mr. Garnier and the woman together was ?very little." Mr. Proudfoot was then asked about his reviewing the surveillance video related to the evening of September 10-] at the Ale House. He thinks this was the following Monday. Cst. Deane, a friend of his, had sent him a message to ask if he had seen the missing woman at the time. He said he did not because he did not recognize the picture that was shown by the of?cer. Apparently a couple of days had passed between the night in question until the of?cer met with Mr. Proudfoot. He said he didn?t recognize the photo of Ms. Campbell and when, as a result of the police investigation, it was found that she had been at the Ale House. When he discovered this Mr. Proudfoot asked if he if he could come and take a look at the video surveillance. When Mr. Proudfoot brought Cst. Deane to the Ale House to review the footage he asked permission from Mr. John Gurney, the head of security. At the time he reviewed the video that evening he was also working so he never actually went to watch the whole video without a break. In response to further questions Mr. Proudfoot said that his recollection of what happened with respect to Mr. Garnier and Miss Campbell that evening was not in?uenced by the surveillance video but was his based on his own recollection.. Mr. Pink asked Mr. Proudfoot if it was the case that when he saw Mr. Garnier and Ms. Campbell together they were ?all over each other and making out.? He said at the I-J Ind preliminary hearing that he could not recall and Mr. Pink points out to him that he gave a statement to the police in which he said that shortly after he noticed the couple together they were ?all over each other and making out." He said that when he told the police that he saw them in this situation that it ?could have been from footage I?m saying I?m not sure if it was independently seen." When it was suggested that it was possible that he could?vc seen them actually making out he admits, ?It is possible. ljust don?t recall." Asked if he had any time saw Ms. Campbell trying to push Mr. Garnier. He said, ?not that l've seen.? And he agreed with the suggestion that ?'om his observations "they appeared to be two consenting adults making out.? Mr. Proudfoot replies, ?If I had seen the making out But I don't recall." In summary, he said that part of his recollection of the events of what occurred that night was based possibly on what he had seen in the video, but he remembered Mr. Garnier coming in, and greeting him, when he came back and told him that he had broken up with his girl??iend, and he remembers seeing him with a person who it now appears to be Ms. Campbell at the table and ?that would be the extent of the evening." Mr. Proudfoot indicated that he knew Mr. Garnier to be a ?very? quiet guy and he had never known there to be any issues with Mr. Garnier while he was working at the Ale House. When questioned about Ms. Campbell's state of sobriety that evening. He said, ?it seemed Nothing over the top. It just seemed like they were out, nothing too intoxicated I wouldn't say They both obviously had a drink or so." He suggests that Mr. Gautier initially bought a pitcher of beer that evening and then came back a second time and bought a bottle of beer. However, he said it could've been the other way around. During the evening Mr. Proudfoot indicated that he did not have any contact with Ms. Campbell. In re-examination Mr. Proudfoot is asked to look at the statement that he gave the police in which he says that Mr. Gamier and Ms. Campbell, ?very quickly they kind of hit it off. It didn't seem like they knew each other at all, and then, all of a sudden, they were, you know, let?s just say all over each other, making out and such. I didn?t see him much more. He then stated that he was describing what he ltad seen on the video footage and not what he had seen for himself. In cross-examination for clari?cation by Mr. Pink Mr. Proudfoot said that he saw this on the video footage from the upstairs camera and at no time did he see footage of anything showing them necking downstairs at the table. vidcuce of Bradley Randall At the time of his testimony Mr. Randall had been employed in the military for about seven months. But in September 2015 he was working HFX Sports in Halifax as a bartender and also as head doorman at the Halifax Ale House with which it is associated. He said he knew Mr. Garnier as they had worked together at the Ale House for about a year in 2013, but did not have any signi?cant relationship with him outside of work. He indicated that he did not know who Ms. Campbell was on the evening of September ll, 2015. He said he did know Ryan Proudfoot as they had worked together for eight years at the Ale House. On the evening of Thursday, September 10, 2015 he worked at the Halifax Sports Bar from eight until midnight, and hem midnight he switched over to the Ale House as a doorman. That night he was at the back door of the premises. He indicated that patrons had to have left by 4 AM on the morning of September II. He denied drinking any alcohol himself during the period of time in question. When he arrived for his shift at midnight he said that Mr. Garnier and three of his ?'iends was standing around a table, maybe 5 feet away from the doorway where he was posted. He did not know any of the other three, all of whom were male. When he noticed Mr. Gamier he went up to him and said hi to him. He said he was ?ne. But then added that he had broken up with his girl?'iend that day and he was outjust out to have ?in. At the time he said his mood ?seemed good . .. just with a couple [of] buddies, having fun.? When he went back to his door he noticed one of his friends was ?pretty drunk, so I went back to Chris and I said, ?You should keep an on your friend or I'm going to have to kick him out." When he went back to the door he turned and realized he ?couldn?t let this man stay any longer because he had too much to drink.? He told Mr. Garnier this and he replied, ?Yeah, for sure." He added, ?So his friend heard this and got up on his own and was good about and left out the back door." Mr. Randall indicates that he noted that Mr. Gamier was drinking Budweiser beer, but he had no idea how many drinks of beer he had had up to that point, and with respect to his level of intoxication he ?didn't notice anything that stood out, only his friend, because he was way over the limit, but there was nothing wrong with him or the other two guys that would tip me off." At that point he said Chris Gamier was just standing by himself at the table or sat and talked. There was a group of five or six people at the next round table and Mr. Garnier started talking to a girl who was in the group but ?sitting back ?'om them." Mr. Gamier just started talking to her, initially from a distance, but later they moved closer together, and were eventually talking side-by-side and ?she's pretty much sitting at the same table next to me." Mr. Randall noted that they ?almost seem like they talked for a bit, then stopped, then, like, started up again. It's not how I would think two friends would see each other and just start chatting." He then noted that Mr. Garnier and Ms. Campbell both stood up and Mr. Gamier asked Mr. Randall to just watch his beer for him while they go out the back door. At that point Mr. Randall thinks they were chatting for about 20 minutes. He then said not long a?er that they probably came in the front door and came back and sat in their chairs and started talking again for possibly half an hour or 20 minutes and then went back outside again. He said, ?They did the same routine they came back, sat back up at the table, talked again for another 20 minutes, half an Like going out to the back door, coming So they did this like Then, the third time they got up, they went to the second ?oor." He noted that the staircase to that ?oor was about It) feet away liorn him but ?right in ?ont of where I stand." The next time he saw them was about an hour a?er they came downstairs again and ?they?re a lot closer now sitting, like, next to each other talking, like, ear to ear Their faces got closer together. Like, they were interested in each Now they?re kissing, there, you know, getting a little she?s standing now, like, in between his legs. Like, he sitting down, like, sitting on a and she standing there and they?re talking and kissing, things like that." Mr. Randall stated that he became concerned that their demonstrations of interest and affection had become too extreme, ?So I go over and was, like, hey guys, you know, you?re at a bar, you gotta settle down, because it was getting a out of hand for a So she jumps down and they continue talking. They get up, they go outside again, I don?t know for what, in the same situation they go around to Prince They do this probably like two more times through the They were looping around.? He said he didn't know what they were doing, but they did this two or more times and then they would come back to the round table and sit there talking and, ?again she was on his lap, they started making out again. I was, like, ?hey guys, like it?s the end of the night, like, just cut it out".? And he said then ?So, they did, they jumped down ?hung out there for a the odd time they leave, I'm guessing to go like to the dance ?oor or something but they?re always at the most of the night. Then, at the end of the night I'm guessing closer to 330 - a girl does come up to them and she talks to them, but 1 can't tell you who she?s talking to or if she even knows them.? Mr. Randall stated that Mr. Garnier and Miss Campbell walked out the night and Mr. Gamier said something to him like, ?thanks for having me had a good night." He said that Ms. Campbell walked out ?rst and he noted they were walking down Brunswick Street to the Metro Centre walking together side by side. He couldn?t say if they were holding?s hands, but they were ?that close." He described Ms. Campbell as having blond hair and was wearing a dress with ?owers and it. She was aged about 30 he thought and smaller than Mr. Garnier and she was ?skinny. .. 5-8 or Mr. Randall is asked about Mr. Garnier?s level of intoxication as he left the bar and he replies ?no, nothing that stood out. I mean, yeahwas drinking, but nothing that would stand out to kick him out anything like He was normal. Like, I?ve known Chris, Also, he noted there was nothing striking about Ms. Campbell?s?s state of sobriety. He was asked if Mr. Gamier?s mood changed over the course of the evening and he answered, ?Just with, just with They just got closer and like throughout the night. You could tell were getting more into each other. I?d say throughout the night." In cross-examination, Mr. Randall is asked if he agrees that Mr. Garnier and Ms. Campbell were enjoying each other's company and he agreed. He also agreed that he had not heard any argument between them. Evidence afAndrew Golding. Mr. Golding indicates that on September 11, 2015 he was walking to his work at the Subaru dealership around 4:45 AM. Normally he said he would pick up a cup of coffee en route and he did the same each day. Generally he does this so as to avoid other people and he generally sees very few people. On that particular day there was little natural light, but street lights were on. On this particular day he was walking on North Street at 4:53 AM (he noted the time on his cell phone) when he encountered an individual on the same sidewalk on the same side of the road: ?1 saw an individual walking towards me, pulling a green compost bin." He described this person is male, white, aged between 20 and 40 and wearing a light coloured shirt and shorts and was heading towards the harbour. Mr. Golding passed this person quite closely and said, ?it nearly hit me." He said that he assumed that the bin was full rather than empty ?based on the lack of noise coming out of it." He said, made a point of making contact with the person, only because they stood out, as I?ve never encountered anybody along that stretch of sidewalk before.? And then he continued on his regular route. He said he didn?t look back or make any further observation of the person. He thought nothing of it again until he saw a newspaper article, ?where it had alluded to a person with the green bin being located on a few different streets." Evidence of David Yea Mr. Yeo was resident in an apartment overlooking Halifax Harbour at the time of the alleged offense. He recalled that his usual practice on getting up in the morning was to have a cigarette and get coffee and go out on his deck. He indicated that from there he could see right across to ?North Street, the bridge, Barrington Street, everything.? He said that on this date at about ?ve to 5:12 AM, saw a strange fellow pulling a green dumpster, struggling across the road he was located just coming down from the off ramp that you would take going down, if you were taking a right to Harrington Street to go towards the city, he was struggling with the green dumpster, struggling with it across the street." He was described as ?white, Caucasian, brown hair, ?and around 35 years of age. He was wearing pants and a T-shirt, but he didn't notice anything about his 26 feet. He believed that the bin was heavy as he was struggling to pull it using both hands. Mr. Yeo indicated that there were no other people around and the traf?c was quiet. He went back inside for ?ve minutes, during which time he made his coffee and then came back outside and he saw the same individual ?over in the bushes, and then I saw him coming back across Harrington Street." He described the various features of the scene and ?there?s a tree-line there, and there?s a blue structure there, and he was in, he was right in that tree line right there, dumping something." After the green bin was dumped he noted the man ?dragged it back, with, like, one hand, kicking it, cursing, laughing, screaming? and went back up to the off-ramp with the green bin. ln cross-examination he elaborates what the cursing actually was and he said, ?He was saying, Holy ?ick. Fuck, ?ick, fuck.? And with respect to the laughing he said he appeared to be ?just having a grand time, like Very strange." Evidence of Rancid Ilia-Donald Mr. McDonald was driving a garbage truck on September ll, 2015. He was on his own but able to communicate with others by company radio. He said on this date, ?i seen a fellow coming up the sidewalk with a compost 1 was at the lights, heading north, the comer of North Street and Agricola." He said he made a stop there at a ?ashing red for a stop. He noted the individual in ?oat of Gus's pub on Agricola Street on the corner with North Street. Mr. McDonald noted that the individual had bare feet, male, and wearing a red shirt and blue shorts. He was pushing the compost bin ahead of him. This was around 5 AM. He said he told other peeple he worked with that he had just seen a litany thing on the sidewalk. He said his truck was still moving when he noticed this. He was driving at less than 5 miles an hour as he had just ?nished pulling through the lights. He then continued on his way. It did not come to his attention again until the police called him and he made a statement a couple of days later. In cross-examination he was asked if he had any doubt that the man he saw was pushing the green bin and he said he was ?pushing it" and not pulling it. He said he was about a minute at the lights till he went by this individual, ?it'd be probably within a minute, 30 seconds to a minute." in cross-examination he is asked about the statement he made to the police in which be indicated that his shorts ?might?ve been sky-blue, like, baby blue, a light blue, something tells me they were 1 thonght his legs were hairy, for some i noticed he had no shoes, no socks on." Evidence afDr. Matthew Bowen. Dr. Bowes was qualified as a forensic pathologist. He conducted the postmortem examination of Ms. Campbell's body. He was allowed to give Opinion evidence on the cause, manner and mechanism of death, and causes of injuries to the human body. He 27 outlined the essential ?ndings from his post-mortcm examination of Ms. Campbell and referred to his typed report. He noted there was some decomposition of the body and evidence of blunt head trauma with black eyes and {inclined nose. There was also evidence of strangulation or neck trauma including abrasions to the neck, bleeding into the whites of the (scleral hemorrhage) and hemorrhage into the left sterno-mastoid muscle (running from the collarbone to just behind the car). There was a fracture of the left greater horn of the thyroid cartilage (voice box). He pointed out that such fractures can occur due to other causes as well on occasion, but in this particular case and setting, he believed it was evidence of strangulation. As well, there was associated hemorrhage in the intrinsic muscles of the larynx and in the scmicosal [sic this must surely have been ?submucosal?] layer of tissue immediately under the mucosa or lining. As well, the pathologist noted abrasions or scratches on the neck, some or all of which he admitted might have been caused around or after the time of death. He explained that the body being found face down and ?in relatively rough terrain raises the issue of perhaps the dead body having obtained some scrapes on the surface of the body really as a consequence of the rough terrain or rough manipulation." He stated, nevertheless, that in his opinion he believed this to be ?evidence of strangulation." He went on to explain the signi?cance of the body being found face down and after a period of decomposition. He indicated that in those circumstances, ?blood may pool in the organs of the neck and cause an appearance which is similar to an anti-mortcm hemorrhage but is not." However, he believed the hemorrhages he observed had been caused before death. It was pointed out that the observations were all on the le? side of Ms. Campbell?s body and the pathologist stated that this ?really mitigates against those being an artifact of prone decomposition. You would that if the hemorrhages were the product of prone decomposition, they really ought to distribute themselves completely evenly over the anterior surface of the neck and face." He did offer that Miss Campbell's face appeared to be very bruised but believed that to be due to ?prone decomposition." The neck hemorrhage, though, was different, ?since it?s accumulated on one side and since it is far too focal. I do not think that this is a consequence of prone decomposition. I think that those are injuries.? Dr. Bowes offered, in summary, that this was a case of strangulation, though he added that ?other reasonable colleagues of mine could well look at the same data set and call the cause of death something like multiple injuries or injuries of an unaseertaincd type. I know that some of my colleagues nationally use that kind of language when faced with this kind of case." He went further and said that he thought the manner of death was ?certainly a homicide.? Specialized examination of Ms. Campbell's brain was conducted by a Dr. Crowell and did not provide any additional information. Toxicology reports showed that ethyl alcohol was found in her blood, but the pathologist indicated that an unquantiftable part of this could have been a consequence of decomposition. Dr. Bowes was asked how long it would take to render someone unconscious by strangulation. He did not have any clinical experience of this, but gave his answer based on his reading of the medical literature and said that it ?can be achieved in seconds, so 10 to 15 seconds is the lowest estimate I've read." He was then asked how long it would take to cause death by strangulation and he referred to an observational study of individuals would videotape themselves hanging. He added that it was debatable whether this situation could be applied to the matter at hand, but believed it was ?a low number of lbelieve.. . an average of 4 plus or minus 2 minutes.? The questioning went on to focus on the possible causes of linear abrasions on someone?s neck during strangulation. Dr. Bowes indicated that these could occur as a result of an assailant gripping the neck or of a rough ligature of some kind. He said that a fracture of the nose when the person was alive could cause bleeding but, in the case of a person being strangled manually or with a ligature, this would not cause bleeding of any kind. However, he indicated that other injuries, such as biting the tongue or lips, could cause bleeding. Nevertheless, with the person on their back the blood would fall back into the mouth, but ultimately, ?either is possible, I suppose." ln cross-examination, the pathologist was asked for the meaning of various technical terms used in his report and was also asked to delineate and describe the various tattoos which he found on the deceased's body. He focused speci?cally on the subsequent examination of ?fixed neck organs" which is carried out in cases where the pathologist has reason to believe there might have been strangulation. This procedure consists of a ?layer-wise neck dissection" on the day of the autopsy followed by immersion in formaldehyde to curb further deterioration so that, at a later date, a more detailed dissection can be done in order to discern any subtle injuries. On the right-hand side Dr. Bowes found no injuries and agreed that the ?faint blush of hemorrhage" in the right stemomastoid muscles could be an artifact caused by the body being in the prone position. Examination of other organs in the neck appeared to be normal. He agreed that the ??acture of the victim?s nose could possibly have been caused after death as a result of the body being roughly handled. It was also possible, he said, that the black eyes and other diffuse bruising could have been a consequence of the body being in the prone position or through decomposition. The pathologist also agreed that the small abrasions on the skin of the neck could have been caused alter death as could the hemorrhages in the left sternomastoid and the left sternothyroid muscles. With reapect to the fracture of the greater hem of the thyroid cartilage the pathologist indicated that a degree of force was necessary to cause this, but it would have been within the capability of an adult 29 person. He said, could fracture it with ?nger pressure." As well, the reference to a hemorrhage in the ?semicosil? (sic as previously, this is almost certainly a misspelling of ?submucosa?, that is the layer underneath the mucosa or lining) and the muscles within the larynx (voice box) were predominantly on the left side. The pathologist agreed that moderate pressure to the left side of the neck could have caused the injuries which he found and could have resulted in Miss Campbell?s death. The cross-examination then moved to a different area and focused on structures in the neck. The pathologist was asked about the vagus nerve (which runs alongside the carotid artery and the jugular vein on both sides of the neck). He was asked what role this plays in controlling the heart and he explained that it has the ability to slow the heart (bradycardia) if the nerve is stimulated, such that the person could faint. However, the pathologist suggested that ?the idea that vagal stimulation can result in death is a little controversial" but, if accepted, then death could occur within one or two seconds and because by mild to moderate pressure on the neck. The pathologist noted that he would not have been able to see a case of this as it would leave no trace at all. The expert was then asked if he had heard of the term ?erotic and he replied af?rmatively. He was asked if, when the carotid artery is compressed, there is a sudden loss of oxygen to the brain and he replied that the pressure would have to be on both sides to achieve meaning?il loss as other arteries also carry oxygen to the brain. He indicated that it was true that depriving oxygen to the brain could be achieved manually by applying direct pressure to the carotid artery or with a person?s forearm. He agreed that loss of consciousness was a real possibility during erotic a5phyxiation and that pressure to the neck, causing unconsciousness, could accidentally lead to death. An elaborate hypothetical question proceeds to include information regarding what allegedly happened between Mr. Garnier and Ms. Campbell (and the expert was asked whether the actions described could've caused the accidental death of Ms. (Ms. Campbell).) He indicates that ?the injuries of Ms. Campbell?s neck are explainable really on the basis of any blunt force applied to that area and, actually, even if we accept as truthful everything that, the hypothetical that you said, it would stood still add up to the same cause of death that I?ve offered the court, because the traumatic injuries in the neck are not speci?c for homicide versus accident. He therefore agreed that the actions described by Mr. Gamicr (as Mr. A in the hypothetical) could have possibly caused the accidental death of Ms. saying, ?1 cannot exclude that. But would draw the court's attention to a few key points of the anatomy, and that is the ?'actured nose, which is, actually, I guess, potentially explainablc on the basis of slapping, although that would be quite a slap, and also the abrasions on the neck. We've talked about the potential other explanations of abrasions on the neck, but the scenario that you posit to me doesn?t really allow for abrasions." Asked directly whether the description of the scenario could have caused the accidental death of Ms. B, Dr. Bowes replied, cannot exclude that possibility." He is asked then if the actions of Mr. Garnier applying mild to moderate force, as described in the hypothetical, cause her accidentally to lose consciousness and die, he again replies, ?Yes, however, would draw the court?s attention to the fact that the force would have to be applied for a matter of minutes, between the loss of consciousness and achieving death.? He estimated that the interval can be quite short, in a matter of seconds. So 10 to 15 seconds, I think, is the shortest number of ever read.? He is asked if the death could have accidentally been caused by either erotic or vagal inhibition. He replies that these present two possibilities. With respect to the ?rst he said, guess broadly the neck manipulation, the closing off of the vascular structures of the airway and, second, the vagal hypothesis that's different. He expressed ?some scepticism, frankly, about this idea that a vagal stimulation could cause death. It?s well known to cause pericardium fainting (sic), but whether or not you can achieve death is a little bit controversial." He really replied again that ?the ?rst circumstance, the erotic neck compression is not excluded, but again with the important caveat that you would have to maintain neck compression for a matter of some minutes in order to achieve death because there are those two milestones the unconsciousness and then there is death, and they are separated by an amount of time. This is not trivial." He agreed that his answer to the last question was, ?Yes, with the caveat as long as pressure was applied to the neck for a period of a few minutes.? On re-examination Dr. Bowcs was asked to clarify and agreed that ?a forearm brought along even the left side of the neck probably has some ability has some compressive ability on the right side of the neck, because these structures would all be compressed. Even if it started over here, I think it would compress the right as well." But, he added, ?both carotids would have to be in some way impeded to achieve unconsciousness." In the interval between unconsciousness and death he indicated there would be involuntary movements of various kinds, but not any speaking. He offered that there are various estimates in the literature about how much pressure needs to be applied to the neck, but the estimate he remembered was 15 to 20 pounds of pressure is suf?cient to close off the carotid artery. He was then asked about the nasal fracture and he expressed the view that a direct slap to the nose would have been required and that ?a slap to the side of the face would not ordinarily end in a fractured nose." 31 In conclusion, he was asked why in response to Mr. Pink?s questions regarding the hypothetical ?could that result in an accidental death" though in his report he concluded it was a homicide. He indicated that, ?if you look at this list of evidence and you look at the whole case, I think that you must conclude that this is a strangulation even if we accept as true the scenario that Mr. Pink posits, the cause of death is the same. It?s still really a variety of strangulation.? In reply Mr. Pink asked him whether at the time he performed the autopsy and came to his initial opinion whether he had considered erotic He admitted that he had not. Evidence afSimarr Zekarr'as Mr. Zekarias indicates that he was originally from Eritrea in East ARM and had been in Canada 12 years. He had known English since grade 12 and studied in English. At the time of the hearing he had been a limousine driver for three months, and prior to that had been a cab driver for six years. He worked mostly in the downtown Halifax area and mostly on weekends. On the evening in question he picked up a Caucasian couple at the corner of Market Street and Sackville Street and drove them to McCuliy Street. He described the couple as white, male and female, and in their late 305. The woman was blend and slim and wearingjeans and a pink shirt. The male was also described as slim and wearing jeans, he thought, and had a little bit of a beard. He indicated it was the woman who flagged him down and the two of them got into the vehicle, the man entering ?rst. Mr. Zekarias indicated that some people have trouble opening the door of his cab but the male didn't seem to have that problem. He sat behind Mr. Zekarias and the female sat across from him on the other side. He said he ?sensed a little bit of tension" and noted that ?usually, when I pick up people at that time, they have a few drinks, they tend to talk loudly or laugh, but there wasn't anything like that.? The woman had asked him to go to McCully Street which took 10 to 15 minutes. On arrival at McCully Street the male got out of the car and crossed the street; the woman paid and then she got out of the door. He didn't see where she went. Mr. Zekarias is asked if he?s had the occasion in his capacity as a cab driver to see people who have been drinking alcohol and he agreed he had. His observation of the male that he picked up that evening was, could smell even the alcohol, but he drunk, like he didn?t have any dif?culty opening the door. That's one thing. Because most people when they have too much to drink 1 usually come out ofthe car and Open it for them in many cases. So he didn't have that problem. But because he was sitting right behind my back, I could smell the alcohol on him so he had a few drinks. But I wouldn't say he was intoxicated. With respect to the female he said he didn't notice any sign of intoxication in her and he didn't smell any alcohol ?'om her, but she was sitting on the other side across so he didn't make the same observation. He said he didn?t hear what the couple was talking about as they were ?talking very low" and his car is old and too noisy so he didn?t hear anything, didn?t hear, but it didn?t sound they were arguing, i think, back and forth, but it was I don?t hear what exactly they were saying, Asked how he knew they were arguing. He said, ?just from their bodies, like, they it seemed to me that they were.. . because they were talking back and forth .. In cross-examination, Mr. Zacharias reiterates that it was the female who told him where to drive to and it was the female who paid his fare. Mr. Zacharias is questioned about his claim that the couple appeared to be arguing and he points out that in the statement he gave to the police on September 16, 2015 he said, ?they were both calm, like, they weren't, like, they were arguing or anything like that. They just, they just told me the address, told me McCully off Agricola Street, and that, that?s probably the last, the only conversation we had there." He?s asked if he could be mistaken that, in the preliminary he said they were arguing whereas back on September 16 he told the police there were not arguing". He replies,? Well, see, that's the problem. Like, when I say arguing, I just base it on my experience as a cab driver, because we pick people who have a few drinks, people who are over drunk or people have tension between them. That's, that?s my reason. No, I didn?t hear anything they were exactly saying." He reiterated, ?no, no, not arguing. 1 know there was, like, there were some actions between them. They talking I didn?t hear anything." He is also asked if he noticed anything about the Speech of the female as she was the only one who talked to him and he said they didn?t have any trouble walking and he noticed nothing else unusual about either the male or female, other than the smell of alcohol from the male. Evidence of Constable Justin Russell Constable Russell indicated that he was a member of the Truro Police Department and had trained for nine months at the Atlantic Police Academy in PEI. He explained that he had known Catherine Campbell as a classmate through training there and they both joined the Truro Police Department on October 26, 2009. He worked with her in September 2015, and the last time he saw her was September 10, 2015 around 5.their night shift so they were then starting their days off. Constable Campbell was supposed to resume work with him on September 14, but she wasn?t there. He indicated that they were ?working friends" but didn't have a friendship outside of work. Constable Russell was asked in cross-examination whether he took training in 33 self-defense at the Police Academy and he said he had and, in particular, he was trained in vascular neck restraints which he de?ned as ?a temporary control tactic to either have someone stop or subdue what they?re doing.? He was then asked if he was trained on ?how to apply a vascular next neck restraint in a manner that would not accidentally injure or cause death to another person," and he agreed. He did not recall whether he was instructed that the neck was very sensitive and the blocking the flow of blood to the brain through pressure on the neck could cause accidental injury or death, but he con?rmed that he was told how to properly apply these vascular neck restraints and what could happen if in fact he didn?t apply them properly. Constable Russell was also asked in cross-examination if he took a course in crisis intervention and rte-escalation and he said he didn?t recall. Counsel explained that ?this is where participants learn to use crisis intervention and de-escalation models and applying techniques to effectively de-escalatc crisis situations." The of?cer said he did not recall. He was asked if he had taken any courses in or police applied social sciences and he said that that sounded correct. He said he did take a course in criminal investigations 1 2, as well as a course in police vehicle operations and speed measurement devices. He could not recall if he had any classes in Occupational Health 3.: Safety for police. He did have a course in intervention and the use of force. He was taught about restraints and intermediate weapons. Police constables are required to both verbally and physically intervene and control the outcome of a variety of situations. Constable Russell didn?t remember whether he had ever taken a course known as judgmental use of force and simulation training though he did recall taking a course in ?rearm pro?ciency in tactical training and in ethics and professionalism. In some of these he agreed he would've been trained in self-defense and in how to break unwanted neck restraints or chokeholds. He ?thher agreed that he had been trained in the use of these tactics from a standing position and he couldn?t remember if it also was trained in the prone position. He was therefore trained in techniques to escape an attacker while in the prone position and in the use of feet, ?ngers, hands, knees, and elbows to escape an unwarranted physical attack. The of?cer agreed that unless a police cadet successfully meets all requirements of the training program they will not graduate from the Academy. Again he con?rmed that Constable Campbell graduated on the same day as he did. The of?cer was further asked whether. upon being hired by the Tune Police Department, he had an obligation to undergo further training and certi?cation in maintaining a series of mandatory standards. He said he had not in fact had further courses in self-defense. He was asked if Ms. Campbell was ever his coworker and he said she had and that he was con?dent in her ability to back him up in case of an altercation while on duty. 14 He was asked in redirect examination if he'd ever used a vascular neck restraint or seen Catherine Campbell use it at work and he said he had not. In fact, he said he had not seen any police of?cer of Truro Police Department use a vascular neck restraint at work. He explained that the goal of such restraints is to ?have either the person stop what they?re doing or [render them] temporarily unconscious." Once temporarily unconscious he would ?guide them to the ground put them in the recovery position check for breathing then contact He said that he would not apply any more pressure after having rendered somebody unconscious or subdued. He was also asked about what gear police are given when they?re trying to get out of the hold and he said, "handcuffs, pepper spray, a baton, sometimes a Taser, a ?rearm." Asked whether, in being trained to get out of the hold, they are under the in?uence of alcohol or drugs, and he said not. He?s admitted that he had has himself not had to get out of a chokehold at work. Interviews with Mr. ChristOpher Gamier at Northeast Nova Scotia Correctional Facility, New Glasgow, on 02!04f2016 from 0300 hrs. to 1230 and on from 0815hrs to 1010 hrs. for a total of about 6.5 hours Mr. Gamier was eXpecting my initial visit but nevertheless I cautioned him in the usual way. 1 indicated that, as he was aware, I had been retained by Mr. Joel Pink, his defense attorney, and that he could be as candid with me as with Mr. Pink. 1 indicated that this was an extension of his solicitor-client privilege. I added that Mr. Pink will decide if my opinion is of use to his defense and that a report would be prepared eventually. If that report was submitted to the Court then I would likely be cross-examined on its contents. Mr. Garnier clearly understood the caution and we proceeded with the interview. I began by discussing his responses on a checklist of common mental health problems that asked him to complete prior to my visit. Prior to his arrest he indicated that there would have been only a few items that he would have endorsed: fear of being embarrassed and preoccupation with cleanliness. He would also have endorsed that he had, in the past, used drugs and alcohol excessively. He endorsed a number of of depression (insomnia, feelings of worthlessness, fatigue, weight gain, loss of interest in everything, poor concentration, loss of pleasurable feelings, guilt feelings, tearfulness, sadness), anxiety and panic attacks, feeling detached and that things aren?t real don't know if it's dreaming seeing myself that night things I can't remember myselfas its going on from a distance like watching TV or a movie dreams every night like that.") tingling in his hands and feet, hot and cold ?ashes, sweating, trembling, having thoughts he can?t get rid of (?repeating events of that night the pictures they showed me [they were] probably the worst" and 35 repetitive thoughts about the same), emotional numbness talked to the chaplain recently it feels like I?ve gone over it so much it doesn?t affect me the way it should do I still worry about things and sad it?s hard to explain but 1 don't feel the same emotions He indicated that he was currently taking Cipralex, prescribed by his general practitioner, for depression from about four years previously, in a dose of 20 mg. At the time of our interview he was taking a lower dose. He is also taking Remeron 15 mg, mainly for sleep. He indicated that he had only ?been taking it sporadically" but did not experience any adverse effects. At the time of our interview, he said that he had "good days and bad days." He was still having trouble sleeping. There were some things which he thinks about every day. If he talks to his family, he can tell by their tone that they are upset and this is a reminder of things. asked him about his report on the checklist of feelings of hopelessness and he said of this ?yes and no I feel worried about everything but am hope?il with the way things should work out it was hindered by recent media events it was printed that i had confessed, which I did not it was untruth?Jl a police of?cer had misled in a report." At the time of the alleged offense he had been living with his girlfriend, Brittany Francis, age 26, for about six months. She is a personal trainer, as he was himself at one time. Despite the charges they are still in a relationship and she visits regularly. They were living in Clayton Park Halifax in a townhouse which they rented. For employment he was doing consulting work with his father?s company and waiting for ajob offer from another ?re and safety company. He had been waiting for this for about four months, as it appeared the company were expecting someone was going to leave, but this did not happen as soon as expected. His overall work is in Occupational Health Safety. He took an OHS management program through Dalhousie University and obtained a certi?cate. In the period before the alleged offense. he said he was not really content with his life. He and his girlfriend Brittany were thinking of maniage, children, etc. but it appears that Chris had been reluctant to commit himself to Brittany because he wasn?t sure that they were ?nancially stable enough and that having children etc. was a major responsibility leap. He said Brittany was not putting him under any pressure, and if there was any such pressure, it came more from him. Since his incarceration he has spoken to Brittany and their relationship is strong again. Chris told me that he has given the same full account to Brittany of what he remembers happened so she knows all the facts from his point of view. Family History His father, Vince, is aged 53 and has his own health and safety consulting company. He is also manager for the Department of Transportation, but took time off ?om that job ?after all that happened." He describes his father as ?smart very direct good with his words . .. a really nice generous person." He stated they have always been very close. His father and his biological mother divorced when he was about a year old. Nonetheless, he always enjoyed a good relationship with them both when he was growing up. His father was in the military and moved around a bit but stayed close to where they were living. He decided to leave the military so he could stay near them and he thinks that the military were considering sending them out west again. Chris Garnier was aged 8 to 10 at that time. His mother, Kim is aged and currently lives in Cape Breton. She did not remarry though she was in a relationship for 15 years which broke up about a year ago. She works as a nurse. She has taken time off as well because of the challenges. He says that she has been ?great always has been." His stepmother, Angie?great as well has her own business Arbone, cosmetics, health foods, natural foods. He has no siblings. He did not ?nd this any particular disadvantage growing friends and had a close extended family. As noted earlier, an aunt, Bernadine, died by suicide through taking an overdose of pills. She had an alcohol and drug problem. Her son, Mr. Garnier?s cousin, aged now about 21, also had trouble of a similar kind but ?he has cleaned up now." There is no other family history of mental health issues or legal problems. Educational Histom: He was born in Calgary on l! 1987. He remained there for about a year at which point his parents separated and later divorced. He and his mother moved to Cape Breton Island. He was there for a couple of years before starting school and his mother was attending Dalhousie University. When she graduated she returned to Cape Breton. His father had been stationed at Windsor Park military base in Halifax during the time his mother was at the University. Christopher Garnier began his own education at Ecole Beaufort in Halifax from grades one through to grade 3. When he moved to Cape Breton he attended Bras elementary school from grades 4 to 6. Then he attended Sydney Mines Junior High School for grades 7 to 9 and ?nally Memorial High School in Cape Breton from grades to to 12, when he completed high school. At school, he had really few problems. in Halifax though he said he was picked on a bit but ?not overly" but enough to him to ??ip to the other side in Cape Breton." By this he meant that he ?hung around with tougher kids" but he was not involved in any bullying himself. He thinks he was picked on because of his weight but he does not believe this was particularly excessive. Some of the other children were around the same weight, but he was the one they picked on. Nonetheless, this left him with a feeling of inadequacy with respect to his physique and motivated him later to become involved in regular exercising, etc. His junior high school and high school were in French. He has stayed in touch with a number of children who attended those schools with him. He said that these friendships have continued, to his surprise, despite the charges. He reported perhaps one or two ?ghts during his school years but no trouble with teachers. He might have missed some classes towards the end of his high school years, but there was no actual truancy earlier. He might have been seen as a class clown in his younger years at Elementary School and believes he was suspended for a day ?in school" when he was about ID or I for this. However, he was never suspended for any length of time and never expelled. Substance are He started using drugs and alcohol in high school. He describes his use of alcohol at that time as ?not really heavy" that might have involved drinking at school dances, etc. about every month. Looking back, he thinks it was ?maybe a bit excessive I was underage if I was drinking I knew I would get drunk." He started using drugs at the end of high school. As noted above, this has been essentially marijuana because never thought it as dangerous as anything else.? Its effect was to relax him. He mentioned that some of his ?iends would call him serious" but would also have ?tn. He does not think he was an above average scholar, but also ?not stupid.? He noted that he could have done better had he worked harder. With respect to his substance use, he indicated that he ?would go For long periods" without consuming any substances. With marijuana it Was ?every year or two.? However, he said that if he drank alcohol he ?wouldn?t know when to stop.? This occurred, he said, on the night in question. He indicated that he might drink more in the summer months, maybe once every two or three weeks. At other times it would be every few months. He was also likely to drink more if he was around peOple that he did not 35 know. He said that no one had ever told him that he was drinking too much or that he had a problem with alcohol. I asked him if he now feels that alcohol and drug use are a problem for him. He tended to minimize this and said he thought that alcohol use is not going to be a problem in the future. However he said he had been to AA and substance abuse courses while incarcerated ?more for knowledge and to hear what others have to say." With respect to use of other substances he said this was ?a long time ago as a late teenager.? He said that this included trying Ecstasy (a stimulant drug similar to amphetamine) on one occasion, cocaine once or twice. He said he did not like the experiences and he did not repeat them. Sexual Hisron! He started dating in junior high school at age about to. The earliest dates were short- lived, but he had a more serious girlfriend at the end of high school which lasted about a year. Altogether he has had about three serious girlfriends, including his current partnersexual partners in his life following his leaving high school. He said that these were not usually ?one night stands", but rather with girls he knew or had been introduced to. He used a condom ?mostly" unless they were in a longer relationship but he never got anyone pregnant or contracted a sexually transmitted disease. :nploymem History A?er school he moved to Halifax where he worked in a restaurant (Montana?s) for about two or three years with no dif?culties. He wanted a change so he moved to Banff Alberta where a fi-iend was also staying. He added that he was dating a girl at that time and he thought they were maybe ?going too fast." So they decided to take a break for four or ?ve months. They stayed in contact but when he tried to contact her in order to rekindle the relationship he found that she was pregnant by someone else. He reports feeling ?pretty upset" by this. His friend got him a job with Banff Fire and Safety and this was his introduction to the field. At the time he would have been in his early 205. He did this job for about a year. After that. he moved back to Halifax in order to attend the ?re-?ghting school at Waverly for ID months. He also volunteered as a ?refighter. He enjoyed that training but never became a ?re?ghter. Apparently they have recruitment drives every so often and he decided to wait for the next one, which never happened. He could have elected to go elsewhere in the province but did not want to move again so far from the family. Thereafter. he worked at Simplex Grinnell for about four years as a fire alarm technician. He left work when his grandmother died. as noted earlier. He was unhappy with the way the of?ce manager handled his request for reassignment given his grandmother?s serious illness and felt that he had covered work assignments for married men, etc. and had done this often enough that it was taken for granted and that he was the man to call. Similarly, he said he never asked for a pay raise except for the amount that was agreed initially and had to ?ght for It was not all that was promised." However, he said it was not only the money problem. He said that the ethos at work was ?no one was praised for good work but if anything went wrong, you were faulted." He returned to work about two weeks later as technically he was still working for the same company. He Spoke to the district manager. As noted above, he was unhappy with the way his of?ce manager dealt with his request to be re-assigned and they both met with the district manager. He felt that they were both trying to put the burden on him for not accepting the assignment. However, the district manager re-interviewed him later as he felt that Christopher had been treated unfairly. The of?ce manager was apparently reprimanded because of other similar complaints and was eventually dismissed. He had been offered a job at the Coast Guard College in Cape Breton and he agreed to do that. He stated that he still had ?a bit of a bad taste? about the situation but was dealt with better this time by the district manager. In fact, he was only in Cape Breton for three weeks then he moved to another company about a month or so a?er he quit. He stated that his doctor had recommended that he call the company?s employee assistance program for some counselling around the depressive episodelanxiety attacks which were noted earlier. He said he had ?ve or six sessions with the therapist, but concluded that he felt stuck and needed to move in order to make some positive changes in his life. As a consequence, he went to Good Life Fitness as a personal trainer, which helped him with his self-con?dence. He was there, overall, for about three years. He went into occupational health and safety and was doing some work with his father while he was working at Good Life and doing some school work for his certi?cate. The latter took about a week. However, he still has one course remaining to gain the certi?cate and was hoping to complete while he was in the jail, with his father?s assistance. He had been negotiating for a new job with and Pratt, another ?re safety company, and the negotiation ended in the offer of a job on 14:09:20! 5. He had just started that job at the time of the alleged offenses. He listed among his hobbies caring for his and Brittany?s two dogs and he takes them for walks or hikes. He also Spends time with family and his girlfriend. He watches a little TV and does some reading, including more non?ction self-help books since he has been incarcerated. He is also takes regular exercise and keeps physically in History He experienced a previous episode of depression four years ago, as noted above. He said this occurred following the death of his maternal grandmother with whom he had a close relationship. Although she suffered from pneumonia, this was expected to resolve but she developed breathing problems and she died very suddenly. He stated that in some ways he still grieves the death of his grandmother and thinks about her, perhaps once a month, and says he misses her. He quit his job after her death. He had wanted to be close to the family when she became sick and contacted the of?ce manager (he was working with a ?re safety company). He told her that his grandmother was probably going to die and he asked that another worker replace him on the project that had just started in Cape Breton. The manager told him he had to choose his priorities and he chose to quit as this ?left a bad taste? in his mouth as noted above. He ?rst became aware of in relation to his grandmother's death when he was driving. He said, ?At ?rst I thought it was anxiety I didn?t really know what depression was or didn't want to admit it Then it happened when was driving rapid breathing, my heart racing, felt warm and ?ushed and developed tunnel vision I ended up going to a doctor at a walk-in clinic straightaway." He was seeing Dr. Margo Watt while at the jail. He has seen her for a couple of sessions over a few weeks and she provided him with general counselling as well as cognitive therapy. He also mentioned that an aunt committed suicide 10 years before the death of his grandmother but they had never been really close and he was quite young at the time. Medical History There is nothing signi?cant or relevant. Legal History He has no history of criminal offenses. He noted that he has had two speeding tickets and ?quite a few? parking tickets in Halifax. Christopher Garnier?s Account to the Undersigued afthe Index Offenses indicated to Christopher that was aware of Mr. Pink's interview with him as well as police information that was then available. was also aware that there were some other materials and I had not reviewed all the videos of those interviews as i did not have them at that time. ChristOpher indicated that he did not tell the police about the sexual components of his involvement with Ms. Campbell which he mentioned in his subsequent accounts. He said 4 that he was asked if he and the deceased had engaged in ?rough sex." He said the reason was, ?mainly because 1 was embarrassed I?d never done that before felt that if I told them that she had asked me to do it they would think I was blaming the person who was no longer here that it would look bad I guess 1 am kinda naive had faith that the investigators would go through the theories and ?gure it out did not murder it was not on purpose or malicious.? He indicated that the ?rst person he con?ded in was the chaplain or social worker at the jail. He said he told them that he had wanted to tell Mr. Pink ?rst, but he wanted him to wait until January. though he was not quite sure why. He said he just needed to get off his chest. He said he had been thinking about it every day, trying to remember as much as he could, and that he wrote it down. However, he noted that writing it down did not result in feeling any relief. He said that day he and Brittany had an argument, and thought things might have been over with . . . she asked argue .. . it was because two weeks before I had started smoking marijuana again." He said that it was not that Brittany disapproved of it in principle, as her brother used a lot. He said that he didn?t ask her to leave (they paid the rent jointly) as he knew it was dif?cult to find a place that would accept the dogs and that he could arrange to stay at his father?s place in Bedford. He added, ?gured it was logicalleave. He arranged with his long-time friend Mitchell Devoe, who works as a nurse, to stay at his place. He said it was likely to be just for the night and then he would move to his father?s. Mitchell was off work that day. He went over to his apartment about LOO pm. They talked a while, watched a bit of TV, and smoked a little marijuana. That morning, after the breakup with Brittany, he got a call ?'om A and Pratt that they had accepted him. He was asked to come in the Monday to sign the papers. He and Mitchell talked for a couple of hours. Mitchell was trying to deflect the discussion ?'om his girlfriend woes onto the positive aspects of having acquired a new job. He said that he has been best ?-iends with Mitchell for about l5 years, since they were in the same French immersion school together. At some point they decided to get something to drink. He is not sure whose idea it was but they both ended up going to the liquor store where Christopher bought a quart bottle of rum [Captain Morgan]. Then they went back to Mitchell's apartment and drank that together for a few hours while still talking and watching TV. Christopher says he drank more than half the bottle. He had last consumed alcohol about two or three weeks previously but that was over a couple of days when Brittany's family was there and had been throughout the day and was mainly beer. So Christopher's portion of the rum was consumed over 6 to 9 42 hours. Mitchell drank a little less than he did. He said that Mitchell is smaller than he is but he, Christopher, drinks faster. At about 9 o?clock they were talking about going out to a bar that they are familiar with, the Midtown Tavern where they knew the bartenders, to celebrate his new job. They left about l0 PM by taxi to go there. However, for some reason the tavern was closed and they walked across the street to another bar called Cheers, which was open. At Cheers they consumed more alcohol. He thought ?probably four or ?ve singles or doubles of rum." Normally he drinks doubles, but he said he was not sure about that night. He remembers also having over about two hours at least one shot of some mixture of liquor which was provided by a hostess. At midnight, they decided to go to The Ale House. He said they were both drunk by that time and he does not remember how they got there, but he assumes that they walked because it is not far away from Cheers. I asked him at this point if he had experienced any previous ?blackouts" or losses of memory. He said this must have occurred about three times in the past year, always when he had been drinking excessively and not when he had only small quantities of alcohol. The time when he drank as much as this was when he was in his early 205 and he said that he had blackouts at that time. As far as he knows he never did anything illegal or embarrassing during one of these but he said that after he had sobered up people he had been with would tell him things that were said or done, and he would not remember anything about them. Asked if having blackouts had been a concern to him he said, ?Yes and no because other people might have but most people 1 know would remember maybe I just drank too much that time." He cannot say why they decided to move on to The Ale House, other than perhaps because they do have live music there. He also mentioned that he had been familiar with some of the staff because he had worked there as a ?bouncer? himself during the time when he was doing personal training. He remembers going to the bar at The Ale House and that he said hello to the batman because he knows him. He cannot remember what he asked the barman for but he thinks it might have been a beer because he would normally drink nothing else at that establishment. Probably it would have been a Budweiser, which is usually his preference but he cannot recall actually doing so that night. He cannot recall if he got Mitchell a drink but he remembers he was at the bar with him. He said he knows he sat at the table by one of the exits with Mitchell. He was sitting with two or three other men, in the ?rst 20 minutes. Mitchell was kicked out for being too drunk, but he is not sure at what point 43 this happened. He said he remembers at some point Mitchell was standing at the bar and stumbling and ?staff had to go and check on him." He cannot recall actually noticing him being kicked out. The next thing he can recall is that he was outside talking with Ms. Campbell. He cannot actually recall when he had met her inside the bar and he has no idea if he started the conversation. He knows from the video that she came up to him and wrapped her legs around him. He recalls that she was wearing a skirt. He remembers going outside a few times with her because she had wanted to smoke cigarettes. He cannot remember very much about what they said but at some point they were talking about his relationship with Brittany. He remembers her saying something to the effect that he should talk to her next day and work things out but ?We can have fun tonight.? He remembers kissing her and at one point he recalls that staff had to come and tell them to ?cool it off." Christopher said it was clear to him that Ms. Campbell wanted to have ?something to come out of I told her I was not looking to hook up Remember saying I did not want to have 1 am not clear what she said but something like it does not mean we can?t play." He said that going to a bar to ?hook up" is not something that he really approved of at all. He mentioned that he had a long-time friend who began ?targeting? girls in this way and that he was no longer able to maintain the friendship because of this. He and the victim ended up staying until the tavern closed at 3:30 AM but he cannot actually recall the closing. He remembers getting into a taxi and that he was in it but not how they got it (whether they hailed it on the street or had to call for one) or whether he invited her to come back or not. He remembers they were sitting close to each other and kissing. He cannot recall getting out of the cab but remembers going through Mitch?s door. He thinks she paid the driver. but he cannot recall her actually doing so. He thinks he must have given her the address but he cannot recall doing so. He also remembers the door being open but he was not worried about Mitchell being there. He might have wondered why he was not there. but he cannot recall. Now he knows that Mitch was arrested and spent the night in the ?drunk tank." I asked him, considering that he had told the victim that he did not want a sexual relationship with her because of his continued affection for Brittany, why he had gone along with Ms. Campbell as far as he had. He was somewhat at a loss, but he remembers ?nding her attractive and she was paying him a lot of attention which was very appealing. 44. He admitted that had he met her under other circumstances and was unattached he would have been more willing. He remembers going in and sitting down by the doorway on the back of the couch that was placed there. She was standing against the wall behind and talking to him but that he cannot remember at ?rst what they were talking about. However, he remembers that she was acting seductively and touching his leg trying to stand between his legs. He remarked that her behaviour ?had nothing to do with what we were talking about" and she quickly asked him if he was ?ever into dominating." He said of this, can?t remember exactly but I was kinda shocked as there was not any lead up to it." He said he ?had an idea of what she meant but was never into this." He said that maybe he was fumbling for words and talking about nothing, not looking to have sex with her, and she said again that ?It does not mean we can?t have hm." So he thinks perhaps he thought that they would not have sex, but he could pleasure her. She started ?kissing heavily and she started biting my neck She tried to unbutton my I shifted myself so she couldn?t had her straddling my legs she put his two legs between her legs and pulled towards him. He then said that she asked him if he would choke her. He said, ?This was it within 30 to 60 seconds and for the second time this came out of nowhere.? He said he had never done or been asked to do this before and that "It was strange to me. It shocked me.? He said he hesitated and was ?not thinking clearly.? She grabbed his shirt and pulled him off the back of the couch and she fell against the wall. She put one of his hands on her neck and he said, didn't think 1 was putting any pressure she told me to do it harder can't remember il' I started squeezing but I put my two hands out the way she asked the sound she was she was getting pleasure out of it .. . I don?t think at any point i was squeezing pressing against she was just masturbating herself we started to go down to where Mitchell had set up a pullout couch, bed I was leading her down the she was walking backwards." He said he was ?holding her face as I kissed her. .. she lay back on the couch and lay on top of her [and] had my legs between her legs.? At that point he said that he was not able to have his hands on her Face and head. He said that she was still masturbating and started biting his neck and he hit her too, ?but not hard enough to leave a mark. I pulled her down dress she had no straps I don?t think neither of us took our clothes off she had a bra on but it came down with the dress and her breasts were exposed she wanted me to put pressure on her neck again my right elbow was on the mattress and my right forearm was across her neck and masturbated with my left hand." remember all this for the most part pretty well because I've had to go over it every trying to remember what happened.? He said in the second police interview the of?cer had made mention of ?rough sex? and asked if he and the victim engaged in this and what it happened. At that 45 time he said that he did not want to say as he was both embarrassed and didn?t want it to appear that he was blaming ?someone who wasn't there." He elaborated on his earlier account and said his forearm was across her neck, but that his weight was basically directed on the mattress ?it was not enough so she couldn?t speak .. she made another request to me and was still masturbating I did not say anything and ignored what she was saying that she wanted me to hit her then she pulled me into her face and said ?it?s okay" kind of thought again and took my left hand and with the back of my hand slapped her two or three times quickly I wanted to get it over with then I didn?t want to look at her was embarrassed but I was already in the middle of it she was getting pleasure out of it and making me feel good the attention i could feel it not getting aroused, but how good it was making me feel 1 cannot recall having an erection but getting aroused ?'om the masturbation noises.? He said because of this he could tell she was aroused and he ?kept masturbating her and my other hand she put on her neck and pressed down.? He said maybe a minute later he could feel his arm was getting wet and there was blood on his forearm. He said, jumped up and went to the bathroom thinking her nose had been bleeding ?'om hitting her had not thought I had hit her hard but when i turned back 1 could see her lying there she had not moved I stood there for a few seconds I could tell I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her I tried to pull her up, but she was limp there was air coming out of the lungs I might have shaken her a couple of times thinking to myself [that] she was dead I stood started to get a lot of noise in my head like the rush-hour traf?c like the day was driving and got tunnel vision." He was quite emotional and tear?il in discussing all the above. From then he said he pulled the mattress, with her on it, outside into the backyard. He then remembers being under a bridge and seeing the pillars. He said he cannot remember anything more about what happened at the bridge. He also cannot recall why he did not call 91 2. He clearly was very distressed and regretful about this and cannot understand why his reflexive training (First Aid and did not take over. He remembers talking to Mitchell the following morning sometime between 3 and 10 AM. I asked Christopher what he said to Mitchell. He said that Mitch told him that he had been at the ?drunk tank? overnight and was going to bed to sleep. Christopher took his time packing his stuff and from Mitchell?s he drove to his father?s home. He said he cannot recall what his father said to him, but recalls he was on his balcony and his father noticed his feet were really dirty. Christopher cannot remember what he said to his father in response, but said, think I just sloughed it off." He also thinks they sat and had a coffee and that he later fell asleep on his father's couch. He agrees that he might have been drunk still. He could not remember if his step-mother 4f: Angie was there or not and cannot remember whether she was there during the day, either. He was at his father's for a few hours. They were talking about Brittany with whom he had the argument and he was explaining the situation to his father. He said his father told him that he thought she had sent him a message and he encouraged Christopher to talk to her and work things out. After that Christopher said he had a nap and then went home to wait for Brittany to return from work around 6 o?clock. They talked for a little bit and he told her he was sorry. He said he loved her and wanted to work things out if she wanted to. He said that she apologized to him for getting so upset and that they would try and work things out over the next few days. He said he felt good about that, but thinking that things could not go back to normal. For a couple of hours they were talking and then went to bed but did not have sexual relations. He fell asleep but woke up in the night about 2 AM and just lay there and then AM. During the ?ve or six hours that he lay awake he was thinking about ?whether it actually happened and what I was going to do was starting a new maybe everything?s going to be He and Brittany had coffee together but he cannot recall what was said. He said ?1 do not know where I was going Mitchell said I needed to pick some things there stayed a went down by the bridge wanted to see what I had Wanted to know if something maybe if I don?t see the police then maybe it didn?t happen I still can't remember being pulled over or slowed down Couldn?t see anything went to go back again parked got out looking around remember seeing a garbage bag on the ground wondered if it had not had anything to do with it didn't look inside took it back and put it in a dumpster didn't see anything feeling paranoid." He said he was arrested ?ve days later and during that time he tried to act normally around other people. He said he could recall going back three or four times a day to the bridge area and looking around the vicinity. With Brittany, he said he ?tried to act normal." He said he started his new job on the Monday morning and kept thinking that nothing had happened in a long time." He was ?trying to kid myself that everything was going away but knew something had to happen that's what i kept going down 1 never thought of giving myself up . .. I can?t explain why that would be a reason for Brittany to leave for good." At this point during my initial interview with Christopher Garnier, an alarm sounded at the jail, and was told there was a security issue and that I would have to leave so I did so. When I visited him for the second part of my assessment I focused particularly on his emotional reactions to the incident and his subsequent emotions and behaviour. In doing so I followed the sequence of questions incorporated into the Life Events Checklist (LEC-S) developed by the National Center for PTSD in the United States and based on the criteria described in the American Association?s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Ii"l edition (the DSM-S, APA, 20B). The Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-S) is a self-report measure designed to screen for potentially traumatic events in a respondent's lifetime. It assesses exposure to 16 events known to potentially result in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or distress and includes one additional item assessing any other extraordinarily stress?Jl event not captured in the ?rst 16 items. I had asked Mr. Garnier to complete the questionnaire prior to our second meeting. I began by asking him if he had experienced any previous events that he might describe as stressful or traumatic. He mentioned two that had happened to him (an automobile accident in 2010 and the death of Ms. Campbell), and two other events he had witnessed (someone being beaten up when he was working in a bar, and a He indicated that by far the worst event was ?my actions . . . may have caused the death of Catherine Campbell nothing else will ever compare." He endorsed most of the 20 items in the multiple choice questionnaire which is part of the LEC-S. This instrument can be scored in different ways but suf?cient of the criteria must be met to at least a moderate degree in each of the four groups that comprise the diagnostic framework. A score of 38 or higher is required for a ?probable diagnosis of The maximum score is 80. Mr. Gamier?s score was 60. 1 then reviewed with him the reaponses in detail. He said that at ?rst he tried to block out thoughts and Feelings related to the incident but he was unable to do so and "that made me think about it more." Before his arrest he said that he was ?obsessed with going back to the area to see that there were no police or anything and that everything was okay in hopes that things actually were okay in reality I avoided actually searching the area in fear of what I might He described having distressing memories of the incident that popped into his head without warning. In the ?rst week after the incident he said, "It was all 1 could think about. These memories tormented him ?every day, multiple times a day, I could see her face." He said that subsequent to the police interrogation, "The picture that the police showed me .. . it?s just her face in the picture her eyes are closed, eyelids are black and there are maggots in and under her nose I still see her every day." Troubling though these memories were, he said, ?Most things I still can?t remember I don?t recall meeting Catherine or the majority of our activity in the bar, the cab ride . .. i don?t recall anything after discovering that she was deceased except for the loud ringing noise I could hear and my vison clouding and the ?stills" of her on the mattress then 4:4. the underside of the bridge what I mean by "still" is that I know it's part of my memory but i see it as a picture rather than in motion." He indicated that he had trouble falling asleep ?because of what was constantly on my mind and when I did I would wake up often because of nightmares. 0n the nights prior to my arrest I had next to no sleep.? I asked him about these disturbing dreams and he elaborated: ?At ?rst they were on a basis they aren't as frequent now but they still happen I would often wake up in a sweat and start crying." Chris also reported experiencing ?ashbacks of the incident. A ?ashback is an involuntary or recurrent memory in which a person has a sudden, usually powerful, re-experiencing of a past experience or elements of a past experience. He recalled that he was in segregation for the ?rst month after his arrest and in the ?rst week was on a suicide watch with nothing in his cell. At that point had nothing to do but think and I would try to relive that day in hopes that I would wake up with a different outcome." He frequently ruminated what would have happened if he had gone to his father?s house instead of his ?iend Mitch?s place or what would have happened if he hadn't gone out. He indicated that in the ?rst month ?everything reminded me of' the incident it would start in the morning when I woke up and realized where was .. . then why I was there . . . this would last all day was referred to by some inmate as ?the cop killer" this upset me more than anything I?m still disgusted with it.? These reminders would bring on episodes of acute anxiety or panic such that he spoke with the jail doctor several times. He added, ?During one of the more severe attacks i started to lose my vision it started from the outside in and blurry [referring to his visual ?eld] similar to what happened on the night of the incident." He also reported dif?culty concentrating and is easily startled but this has gradually settled down somewhat. Since the incident he said he couldn?t experience any positive emotions and ?i felt as though things wouldn?t get any better and that my life was over I remember telling my parents not to tell me they were proud of me anymore I felt I was unworthy of their pride at that time." As well, he reports feeling emotionally numb in the immediate aftermath of what happened and still do it's hard to explain but, for example, when I say I love you to my parents or to Brittany i know I love them very much but when I say it, it feels like I'm going through the motions to me it just sounds like words with no meaning attached if that makes any sense." Following the incident he said that ?most days I would either stare out the window or at the wall of my cell I didn?t have much concept of time at that point the ?rst week cSpecially and I also felt helpless like everything was out of my hands I rarely knew the time or date either . . . and had no clock or calendar. 49 He reported feeling as if everything was in a dream -- would wake up a lot and burst into tears or feel a sense of shock llowed by anxiety once i realized where was and why every day it would take me some time to process what was going on." He indicated that tried to avoid talking about the incident and even didn't want to see his friend Mitch when he visited him, as it reminded him of it. He recalled that ?on the days leading to my arrest 1 was very paranoid because I thought I was being followed while incarcerated i am always won-ying when see new faces because I?ve been threatened before 1 even worry about what someone might try to do to me or my family if I get out." I noted that he went to work for the ?rst day of his new job a few days after the incident and asked him if it had affected his ability to work. He said he didn?t think so ?but I can't remember much about my start time at work most of it was orientation. However. he was aware that it affected his daily routing with family etc. ?because i wasn?t able to concentrate on much other than my obsession with figuring out if what happened was real or not I tried to pretend everything was okay when was around my family or Brittany in the hopes that everything would be okay 1 don?t really remember much of my daily routine thoug Mental Status Evamr'nan'an This is the equivalent of the physical examination in other branches of medicine. it consists of a systematic appraisal of the appearance, behaviour, mental functioning and overall demeanour of a person. It reviews a person's functioning at a given point in time. On both occasions when I interviewed him Mr. Gamier had short hair and a goatee beard and looked his stated age of 28 years. He was dressed in orange prison clothes. He was neat and tidy and was adequately groomed. During the interview he showed no agitation and no abnormal movements. He was fully cooperative and gained the impression that he was doing his best to give me a candid and reliable account. There was no attempt to avoid answering any of my questions though he clearly found it dif?cult to respond to some of them when he stated that he could not recall certain events. There was no suggestion that he was having problems remembering only incriminating information. There was no evidence of any disorder of speech or thought processes. He is pre- occupied with his alleged offense and trying to remember all that happened. it} His mood was level most of the interview though, at times, he was appropriately distressed and tearful in the context of the events being discussed. His emotional tone (affect) was consistent with topics discussed. There was no evidence of any perceptual abnormalities such as hallucinations at the times of the interviews. His insight and judgment appeared adequate though he was at a loss to explain his not calling 911 or trying to administer life support to Ms. Campbell, procedures in which he has had training, other than his desire to preserve his relationship with his girlfriend and admits to ?trying to kid" himself that the event did not happen. His behaviour a?er the event in disposing of Ms. Campbell?s body is also an example of his poor judgment in those circumstances. His cognitive functioning was not tested formally though nothing in the clinical interview suggested any gross impairment. Diagnostic Impressions Based on my interviews and review of all the collateral information there is nothing to indicate that Mr. Chris Garnier suffers from any kind of personality disorder. This is usually de?ned as a deeply ingrained and enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that deviates markedly from expectations in the individual?s culture, is pervasive and in?exible, has an onset in adolescence or early childhood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment. He appears by temperament to be a quiet, unassuming person, a follower rather than a leader, a ?peeple pleaser," with a tendency to under-assertiveness. It does appear that he experienced a period of either prolonged gn'ef, or possibly a depressive episode following the death of his grandmother and following his arrest he appears to have again experienced depressive feelings with some concern about suicide potential. As well he reports periods of anxiety, sometimes amounting to panic, that have often been associated with depression. Although there are some contradictions between his account and that of family members and others who know him, Mr. Garnier did report some that strongly suggest he has, or has had, a problem with alcohol misuse, in the form of periodic binge drinking. Although it does not appear to have affected his work, friendships, or family relations, he reported episodes of amnesia or memory impairment, not only around the time of the alleged offenses, but also on previous occasions when criminal or other antisocial behaviour was not involved. 51 With respect to Mr. Garnier?s level of intoxication there appears again to be a discrepancy between his own description and the accounts of those who saw him contemporaneously. That said, he had certainly been drinking alcohol and smoked some marijuana. It could also account, in part, for his subjectively reported memory impairment. Immediately following the death of Ms. Campbell there are strong indications that Mr. Gamier was not in a normal state of mind: He did not respond to his perception that Ms. Campbell was dead by trying to resuscitate her or by summoning help, as his training and experience would have dictated. As well, he tidied up the scene and disposed of the body in a manner that indicates that he was not thinking clearly: He placed the body in a garbage dumpster and pulled or pushed it for nearly a kilometer along illuminated city streets to try to conceal it. He was dressed in only shorts and t-shirt and wore no shoes. He did not disguise himself in any way. He passed one person in the street, was observed by a garbage truck driver, and also by a person from his apartment balcony as he disposed of the body. He was described by this person as ?very weir and to be cursing and laughing. All the while Mr. Garnier had his own vehicle at Mr. Devoe?s residence. Had he been thinking logically, with rational intent and in a manner to avoid detection, he would more easily and effectively have done so by placing the deceased in his car and driving off to somewhere less visible to dispose of her body. Chris Gamier has reported experiencing a loud noise and clouded vision, feelings of unreality ?like a dream", and similar following Ms. Campbell's sudden death. As well, his girl?'iend reported that Mr. Garnier subsequently appeared ?in a daze? or "there . .. but not there? as she described it. These are technically referred to as ?dissociative." This embraces a wide range of experiences from mild to more severe detachment ?om the person?s immediate surroundings. The pattern of he describes strongly suggests that he experienced an acute stress disorder in reaction to Ms. Campbell's sudden death. It is likely that at least some of these persisted for some time afterwards, including the time of the police interviews. As noted below, this had evolved into a more chronic state by the time I interviewed him myself. As currently conceptualized and de?ned in the current authoritative Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Association 5'h edition (commonly referred to as DSM-S) Acute Stress Disorder follows exposure to "actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violation.? This can be the result of direct experience of the traumatic event, witnessing it, or, in the case of a violent or accidental death or threat of death, learning about it occuning to a close friend or family member. It can also occur in those professionals who experience repeated or extreme exposure to details of traumatic events (such as ?rst responders, police of?cers exposed to details of child abuse). The DSM lists fourteen possible of acute stress disorder, grouped into ?ve categories: Intrusion (recurrent, involuntary and intrusive distressing memories of the traumatic event, recurrent distressing dreams, dissociative reactions such as ?ashbacks, intense of prolonged distress or marked physiological reactions); negative mood (persistent inability to experience positive emotions); dissociative (altered sense of reality of oneself or one's surroundings, inability to remember an important aspect of the traumatic event); avoidance (efforts to avoid distressing memories, thoughts and feelings regarding the trauma, efforts to avoid external reminders about or closely related to the traumatic event); and arousal (sleep disturbance, irritable behaviour or angry outbursts, hypervigilanee, problems with concentration, exaggerated startle response). Mr. Garnier reports, or been described as showing most of these and certainly more than the nine that are required for the formal diagnosis. An acute stress reaction, by arbitrary definition, persists no more than one month and, if of similar kind persist, the disorder is re-labelled post-traumatic stress disorder that can last for sometimes prolonged periods but often subsides with time. Mr. Gamier continued to have after this one month period and therefore in my opinion he was suffering From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (commonly abbreviated to PTSD) at the times I interviewed him. The possibility of malingering must always be considered in medical-legal contexts. it is not considered a mental disorder but is the intentional fabrication of physical or for some secondary gain. I do not think that this is a case of malingering. His claim of not being able to remember some elements of his behaviour at the relevant times are more reasonably explained by a combination of dissociation and possibly the effects of alcohol. Medical-Legal Opinions It seems clear that Mr. Courier and Ms. Campbell were unknown to each other prior to the evening in question. It appears that he was in a sad and subdued state of mind thinking his relationship with Brittany Frances had ended. Mr. Garnier and Ms. Campbell quickly became more than simply acquainted and their ardent behaviour resulted in adverse comments from the staff. At the end of the evening, indeed the early hours of the morning, the couple left the bar and Ms. Campbell hailed a cab for them both and directed the driver to Mitch Devoe?s residence where Mr. Garnier had arranged to Spend the night. Apparently Ms. Campbell also paid the fare. 53 All this indicates consensual activity between mature adults. Both had been drinking alcohol which may have affected their-judgment. There is no suggestion of any abduction or coercion. There is no strong evidence (the taxi driver's account seems ambiguous and vague) that they were arguing or that there was any other evidence of a motive for Mr. Garnier to deliberately kill Ms. Campbell. They disappear into the house and Mr. Garnier's account of what transpired is reported above. Mr. Garnier's account of requests by Ms. Campbell for domination, to be hit and choked is consistent with what is known of a sexual predilection called sexual masochism. This is not uncommon, including among women. The desire to be choked to produce or during sexual arousal is generally regarded as a sub-type of sexual masochism and has been given various names including ?erotic ?hypoxyphilia,? and Only a small proportion of masochists engage in it but, from studies of those who do so, quite clearly belongs in the same overall category. Individuals who perform choking or other practices are well known to risk a fatal outcome, typically if they perform the acts alone. The reason is usually that the strategy is not reversed due to miscalculation or equipment mal?anction. Many do not realise, as Dr. Bowes's evidence showed, how quickly unconsciousness may supervene. Deaths in these circumstances are typically viewed as unintentional and deemed misadventures. Over the course of many years of professional practice I have taken a special interest in this phenomenon, originally because I was referred a patient who engaged in this behaviour. Since then I have seen ??een other similar patients, conducted a retrOSpective study of 172 fatal cases by examining coroner?s records (investigating the features that differentiate them from deliberate suicides), and an interact-based study of 115 self- identi?ed practitioners of Along the way, 1 have provided an opinion in a number of cases where insurance claims involving deaths due to sexual were initially denied, and had occasional involvement in criminal matters. Relevant to the current case, it is noteworthy that about a third of my internet respondents were female (among our 172 fatalities, however, there were only 2 women) and 13% out the total sample had carried out the activity with a partner. About three quarters of the internet cases indicated that friends and family knew of their unusual sexual interest. This is in contrast to the fatal cases where the nature of the death typically comes as a complete shock and surprise to others. As indicated earlier, at the Preliminary Hearing1 you presented Dr. Bowes with a hypothetical question and you have asked me, if true, how i would describe the actions indicated earlier I would describe these as consensual sexual activities between mature adults, with Ms. being the instigator. The Speci?c behaviours requested by Ms. of Mr. A are fully consistent with an interest on her part in as a component of her sexual fantasies and arousal. In your original referral letter to me dated January 26, 2016. You raised four speci?c medical legal issues for my consideration: 1. Is erotic a recognized activity, if one believes in ?rough sex"? Yes, it is one of the behaviours that is sometimes included in that term. 2. Can bodily ham be caused as a result of erotic's whereby an accused may not intend to cause bodily harm andior death? Yes. Individuals who practice erotic whether alone or with a partner, do not usually intend to die by this means. They are aroused by the activity and want to enjoy it again in the future. 3. For a person who is being erotically is it possible that they will not give any warnings or struggles at or near going unconscious? Yes, it is. Those who are partnered while they carry out this kind of practice typically will often use a ?safe wor or other strategy to let the partner know to desist. However, unconsciousness can supervene very rapidly and thereby preclude the use of the safety strateg. 4. Can an accused not remember the way in which the body was disposed because of posttraumatic stress disorder? The appropriate term actually would be acute stress disorder which is the state of acute anxiety, dissociative and other (which can often include amnesia or memory impairment) that occur within a month of exposure to an ertretne traumatic stressor. About 20-30% of people who experience a traumatic event snbsequentbr develop post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. I trust the foregoing will be of assistance to you. 55 I know you will contact me for clari?cation or further discussion if required. Yours sincerely, en 1. Huck BS, FRCI?sych. '55