Husband of dead Quebec aide testifies about day wife vanished

The widower of Nancy Michaud told a Quebec City courtroom on Wednesday that he knew something was terribly wrong the night his wife disappeared.

Daniel Casgrain took the stand in the first-degree murder trial of Francis Proulx, the man prosecutors allege dragged Michaud from her Rivire-Ouelle home last spring and killed her, leaving her body in the basement of an abandoned house.

At the time of the crime, Proulx was 29 years old and Michaud was 37.

On Wednesday, Casgrain told the jury step-by-step what happened on May 15, 2008, the last day he saw his wife alive.

He told the court that Michaud was supposed to participate in a news conference that day with her boss, Quebec's Natural Resources Minister Claude Bechard.

She had her hair done for the occasion, and Casgrain remembers telling his wife how beautiful she looked when the two met for lunch.

Casgrain then went to work at a local peat moss plant, returning from his shift at 2:30 a.m. He said he remembered seeing a red car resembling the one belonging to Proulx driving at a high speedas he headed home.

He said he recognized the car because Proulx lived nearby.

When Casgrain arrived home, he had a snack and went to check on his two young children. He said he didn't notice anything wrong until he slipped into bed and realized his wife was not there.

Casgrain said he panicked. He said he knew something was wrong because his wife would never have left the children alone in the house.

Son heard mom call out at midnight

The court also heard from the couple's seven-year-old son on Wednesday. In a written statement presented in court, the boy said he woke up at 4:30 a.m. to see his father in tears.

The boy also said he had heard voices and unusual noises in the house around midnight.

The following day he asked his grandmother if she had been in the house the night before. He said he had heard his mother cry out for her own mother. The grandmother said she hadn't been there.

Michaud's body was found two days later in the abandoned house locatedtwo kilometres from her home.

Proulx was arrested the same day.

Jury sees crime scene photos

Earlier this week, Quebec provincial police officers testified about evidence found at the crime scene.

On Tuesday, police technician Gatan Ringuette showed the court several photographs of Michaud's bruised and naked body.

He said Michaud's body was found in a sleeping bag under several blankets, pillows and sheets. A sportsbag had been used to cover her head.

He testified that blood stains and marks on the floor of the abandoned house appeared to show that her body had been dragged and then dropped into the basement.

Defence and Crown lawyers jointly admitted several pieces of evidence, among them a videotape of a man wearing a balaclava using two of Michaud's debit cards at a cash machine a few doors away from her house.

The person successfully withdrew $1,000 from her chequing account. Michaud's purse, which contained the cards and a piece of paper with her PIN number written on it, were found next to her body.

The trial is expected to last up to two months.