Defence lawyer suggests witness admitted to killing Chelsie Probert

A lawyer for the boy accused of murderingChelsieProbertsuggested in a Halifax courtroomWednesday that the Crown's main witness admitted to killing the young womanhimself.

Probert, 18, died after she was stabbed on a path near Farrell Street in Dartmouth, N.S., on June 6, 2017.

A 17-year-old boy is on trial in Halifax youth courtfor second-degree murder. The boy, who cannot be named due to his age, has pleaded not guilty to the charge, and the case is being heard before a judge alone rather than a jury.

On Monday, the 20-year-old witness, who cannot be named because doing so might identify theaccused,testifiedhe saw the boy attack Probertand later say,"She's dead, I killed her."

But under cross-examination on Tuesday, defence lawyerBrandon Rollesuggested the witness tried to rob Probert after seeing the accused was unable to pull off a robbery earlier in the evening. When Probertdidn't take the robbery seriously, thatbothered the witness and he attacked her with a tire reamer and knife, Rollesaid.

'Killed her and got away with it'

On Wednesday, Rolle went a step further, suggesting the witness admitted to the crime and told an associate that he "killed her and got away with it."

The witness replied emphatically,"Your suggestions are absolutely false" a statement he repeated in court throughout his cross-examination.

In the days after Probert's death, the witness gave two statements to police. In court, he said his first statement, in which he denied any knowledge ofthe murder, was "a boatload of crap" and that his second statement was the truth.

• Autopsy showed Chelsie Probert suffered severe chest, arm wounds

• Men in hoodies spotted on path where Chelsie Probert was found dying, court hears

He testified Wednesday that he told the truth the second time after receiving advice from his father. Hesaid his motivation for doing so was that Probert's family would know what happened to her, and that no one else would take the fall for it. He said he also wanted to talk about his own role that night and get it off his chest.

'An accomplished liar'

The defence took aim at the witness's credibility, calling him "an accomplished liar."

Under cross-examination on Tuesday, the witness admitted he lied multiple times to his mother, father and police about what happened that night. He also testified he is an avid marijuana user, drinks heavily, has abused pills, is a low-level drug dealer and has stolen, threatened someone and wanted to buy a weapon.

Lawyers for the accused suggested Wednesday that the Crown's case rests on this witness, and applied to have hisfirst statement to police, which was recorded, played in court.

But Crown lawyer Steve Degentold Judge Elizabeth Buckle that wasn't necessary, and said it's not unusual for someone to lie to police and then change their story. He also said Buckle should judge the witness's evidence based on "the witness taking the box."

The judge denied the request to play the recorded statement in court.

The Crown will call one more witness on Thursday before resting its case. The trial is scheduled to continue next week. It's still unclear whether the accused will be called to testify.

With files from Elizabeth Chiu

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