Garnier tells Halifax murder trial off-duty cop asked him to choke her
HALIFAX — Christopher Garnier choked back tears as he testified Monday at his murder trial, telling the jury that off-duty police officer Catherine Campbell encouraged him to choke and slap her before she died.
Garnier’s lawyer, Joel Pink, opened the defence case by telling the 14-member Nova Scotia Supreme Court jury that Campbell, 36, died accidentally during “rough sex” that she had initiated. He then called his client to the stand.
Garnier, 30, said he had broken up with his common-law girlfriend Brittany Francis on Sept. 10, 2015 and went to stay at a friend’s apartment on McCully Street in Halifax’s north end. They smoked cannabis, drank alcohol and later went downtown to take his mind off the break-up and to celebrate Garnier getting a new job.
Garnier said he met Campbell at the Halifax Alehouse in the early hours of Sept. 11, 2015. He said they danced and kissed before leaving the bar around 3:30 a.m. and going back to his friend’s flat.