Christopher Calvin Garnier is facing charges of second-degree murder and indecently interfering with a dead body in connection with the death of 36-year-old Catherine Campbell in September.
In a sworn affidavit by RCMP Const. John Berger filed with the court to obtain a warrant for Garnier's DNA, Berger writes that Garnier told two officers he punched Campbell several times in the face and then strangled her.
“He said he could hear her last gasp,” read the document filed with Halifax provincial court on Feb. 10.
None of the allegations in the affidavit have been proven in court.
Campbell's body was discovered Sept. 16 near an overpass that leads to the Macdonald Bridge connecting Halifax and Dartmouth, two days after she failed to show up for work with the Truro Police Service.
The affidavit alleged Garnier also admitted to officers that he had planned to move Campbell's remains, but didn't manage it before they were discovered.
“He says that the trap, gloves, and other items in his car were to be used for that,” stated the RCMP affidavit, referring to items found in the vehicle Garnier was driving at the time of his arrest.
“He had his passport and was contemplating fleeing but he did not want to leave his girlfriend.”
CBC reports that the lawyer for Garnier said police are entitled to their views but the only interest of the Crown and defence is proven facts.
A preliminary inquiry has been tentatively set for July 11 to 15.
The affidavit said Campbell had taken a cab from her apartment on Windmill Road in Dartmouth to the Alehouse pub in downtown Halifax and arrived there early on Sept. 11.
It said Garnier and Campbell kissed and talked while at the bar and video surveillance shows the pair leaving just after 3:30 a.m.
About an hour and a half later, a man police believe to be Garnier was caught on surveillance video leaving a McCully Street address and rolling a green bin down Agricola Street in his bare feet, returning half hour later with no green bin.
“I believe the video captures Mr. Garnier attempting to remove evidence and Ms. Campbell's body from the murder scene,” Berger writes in the affidavit.
The documents allege the key to a vehicle and a gym membership tag, both belonging to Campbell, were found in a dumpster within 30 metres of the McCully Street address, where Garnier's friend lives.
A “discarded” green bin was found in a wooded area off Barrington and North streets, roughly seven minutes from the McCully Street address, the affidavit said.
It also said blood evidence was found on the floor and wall of the family room at the McCully Street address as well as on the pull-out sofa and the door handles of the cleaning supplies cabinet. DNA swabs taken from multiple locations inside the residence were a match for Campbell, it said.
Campbell served as a volunteer firefighter for 10 years in her hometown of Stellarton. Her family has said she held a variety of jobs in the community before deciding to train as a police officer, finding a job in Truro as soon as she graduated six years ago.
