Kristin Johnston, a 32-year-old Halifax yoga teacher, was found dead March 26, 2016, at her home in the Purcells Cove area on the outskirts of the city .
Nicholas Jordan Butcher, 35, is on trial for second-degree murder in his girlfriend's death. He has pleaded not guilty.
Jury selection began April 3 in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax. The Crown expects to call about 40 witnesses in the case, which is scheduled to run for 20 days.
Here's a summary of the evidence and testimony so far. This article will be updated as the trial progresses.
What the Crown alleges
In her opening remarks to the jury, Crown attorney Tanya Carter said she intends to prove Johnston wanted to break up with Butcher and she had no desire to return home the night before her death.
Carter alleges Butcher "couldn't be without Kristin Johnston," killed her and tried to take his own life. The prosecutor also tells the jury the medical examiner found Johnston died of 10 sharp-force wounds to her neck.
What the jury has heard about Kristin Johnston
Johnston was in a relationship with Butcher and the jury has heard they were dating for about a year.
About a month before her death, Johnston, who is originally from Montreal, started the process of closing her Halifax yoga studio, Bikram Yoga, because of money troubles.
Friends of Johnston have testified she was stressed out about shutting down her business, and was also considering ending her relationship with Butcher.
In the weeks before her death, Johnston told friends she intended to sell her house in the Halifax area and move to Tofino, B.C., to help her pregnant sister.
The jury has heard she spoke to multiple friends in the weeks leading up to her death about how she should break up with Butcher.
What the jury has heard about Nicholas Butcher
Butcher is a Dalhousie law graduate. The court has heard he was unable to get an articling job after graduation and was working as a driving instructor.
Timeline of events leading up to Johnston's death
March 25, 2016:
Around 6 p.m. — Butcher's friend Adam Chisholm gets a text from Butcher asking him to hang out.
Around 8 p.m. — Butcher arrives at Chisholm's home in north-end Halifax with Johnston's dog. They talk about how Johnston seemed distant since returning from a recent trip to Costa Rica, as well as about Butcher's job prospects.
Chisholm testified Butcher was "upset" at the prospect of Johnston ending the relationship.
8:05 p.m. — Johnston's friend Matthew Whiston meets her at the Halifax restaurant Lion and Bright. He testified Johnston was in good spirits. They talked about Johnston's trip to Costa Rica. They also talked about her failing business and her desire to end her relationship with Butcher. He said she appeared completely sober when he got there and estimates they each had two or three drinks.
Whiston's girlfriend joins them. Other friends come and go.
Around 11 p.m. — Johnston meets up with her childhood friend, Lisa Abramowicz, and leaves Lion and Bright. Abramowicz testified she and Johnston were both a little bit buzzed. The pair head to their friend Mike Belyea's house on Willow Street some time after 1:12 a.m.
March 26, 2016:
Some time between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. — Chisholm falls asleep, under the impression that Butcher is spending the night. When Chisholm awakes around dawn, Butcher is gone but the dog is still there.
Around 2:30 a.m. — Butcher shows up unexpectedly at Belyea's house, the jury has heard. Johnston seemed shocked but not scared. The pair leaves the apartment. A few minutes later, Johnston returns and tells Belyea and Abramowicz she ended her relationship with Butcher.
The group concludes that Butcher was monitoring Johnston's Facebook Messenger and that's how he knew where to find Johnston.
3:26 a.m. — Abramowicz messages Butcher and asks if he's OK. He says "no," and asks how Johnston is doing.
About 4 a.m. — Johnston says she's going to sleep in Belyea's room.
About 4:15 a.m. — Abramowicz leaves Belyea's house. Belyea goes to his bedroom.
About 4:20 a.m. — Belyea and Johnston are kissing in his bed when he hears steps coming across his kitchen. He testified he then feels a hand push his shoulder. It's Butcher.
Belyea said he left his apartment to give Johnston and Butcher space to talk. When he comes back, both Johnston and Butcher are gone.
He later he receives a Facebook Messenger message from Johnston's account: "Jesus f-----g Christ, I'm so sorry."
About 5 a.m. — Harry Lehmann, a tenant in the basement of Johnston's Purcells Cove-area house, hears scuffling noises at the front of the house.
About 7:30 a.m. — Lehmann hears someone coming down the stairs to the basement. He doesn't see who it is.
Then, he testified, he hears a scraping noise and thumps as someone takes something upstairs. It sounds like someone dragging an extension cord. A short time later he hears a humming, mechanical noise. He thinks it is a microwave. It doesn't last long.
The 911 call
7:45 a.m. — Butcher calls 911. In the recording he's heard saying: "I need help. I'm dying. I'm bleeding to death. I cut off my hand. I killed her."
A short time later police arrive at the scene and secure it. Police discover Johnston on a bed with a pillow over her head. The sheets are soaked with blood and a black-handled steak knife is next to her body.
A police officer also finds a severed hand in the bedroom next to a mitre saw.
Around 8 a.m. — Paramedics are allowed on scene. They see Butcher lying on the front porch, his hand amputated and a deep cut on his neck. A paramedic retrieves his hand from the bedroom.
8:08 a.m. — A paramedic goes into Johnston's bedroom and pronounces her dead.
8:22 a.m. — An ambulance takes Butcher and his severed hand to the QEII Health Sciences Centre. The hand is reattached.
Paramedics at the scene in the ambulance testified Butcher was calm.
At the hospital
One of the doctors to treat Butcher at hospital, anesthesiologist Genevieve McKinnon, testified he said several times that he'd messed up. He appeared upset, remorseful and his eyes welled with tears, she said.
Butcher, she said, was able to comply with her directions as she treated him.
Surgeon Jonathan Trites testified there were 13 penetrating wounds to Butcher's neck — seven were close to the Adam's Apple and six were at the jawline. He said if left untreated, the wounds could have led to Butcher's death.