by The second-degree murder trial of Thomas Ted Barrett is due to continue today in Sydney court.
40 year-old Barrett is charged with second degree murder in the death of 21 year-old Brett Elizabeth McKinnon from Glace Bay.
McKinnon was reported missing in 2006 and her remains were discovered in a wooded area near No. 11 dump in Glace Bay in 2008.
The trial began yesterday with Barrett entering a not guilty plea to the charge.
Among the Crown witnesses called yesterday was McKinnon’s mother, Lynn Singleton.
Singleton testified that her daughter had a miscarriage in June of 2006, and she later overheard McKinnon arguing with her boyfriend Travis Tower on the phone.
She says Tower accused McKinnon of killing his baby and told her daughter he was going to murder her.
However, Singleton says she didn’t think he’d follow through on the threat.
Meanwhile, defence lawyer Brian Bailey suggested that police zeroed in on Barrett as the sole suspect in MacKinnon’s death.
When Judge Robin Gogan asked Bailey if he believed Tower was a suspect he responded that his job is simply to raise reasonable doubt.
The Crown plans to call more witnesses at the trial today, including the medical examiner.