Couple 'executed in cold blood' with baby in next room, murder trial told

Barry Kirk Mersereau and Nancy Paula Christensen were "executed in cold blood" as their baby lay unharmed in the next room of their Centre Burlington, N.S., home, a prosecutor told a jury Tuesday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

Leslie Douglas Greenwood is on trial in a Kentville courtroom for two counts of first-degree murder in the Sept. 9, 2000, deaths of Mersereau and Christensen. It is the second time he has faced trial on the charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

In his opening remarks, Crown attorney Peter Craig said some of the evidence that will be presented is "almost surreal, like watching a movie." 

He said the jury will hear testimony from an accomplice, Mike Lawrence, who has previously pleaded guilty to murdering Mersereau and Christensen, and to killing the driver of a pickup truck so he could use the vehicle in a robbery.

"I'm not asking you to embrace Mike Lawrence, but we are going to ask you to believe him," Craig said.

The intention, Craig said, had been to rob Mersereau and Christensen, but the plan was changed to killing them on the orders of another man, Curtis Lynds.

There were no signs of struggle, the prosecutor said. Even a teapot remained on the stove.

"This case is about executions," Craig said. "Two people were executed in cold blood."

Due to the time that has passed, three witnesses who testified at Greenwood's first trial in 2012 will not testify this time. Two of them are dead and one is medically unable to testify. Instead, audio from the previous testimony will be played in court.

The first of those to be played was that of a neighbour, Ruby McKenzie, who described finding the victims dead in their home. Christensen's mother had asked her to check in after her daughter didn't show up for supper. It appeared the victims had been shot.

"I could see Nancy sitting in the chair," said McKenzie, who has died since the first trial. "She had a bullet hole in the back of her head. I looked down and there was Kirk lying on his belly by Nancy."

She said she found the couple's 18-month-old child and covered his head with a jacket so he wouldn't see his parents as she took him from the home. She called 911.

McKenzie said there were two Rottweilers in the house, but they had not been shot. The dogs would normally not allow anyone near Mersereau and Christensen, she said, but on that day they gave her no trouble.

'Adrenaline going through the roof'

The first witness to be called Tuesday was RCMP Cpl. Glenn Ronald Bonvie, who had been a Mountie for just four months at the time of Mersereau and Christensen's deaths.

Following the 911 call, Bonvie was one of the officers that drove to the home, which was down a long, straight gravel driveway. He said he arrived shortly after 3:30 p.m., his "adrenaline going through the roof."

The officers went into the home, he testified, guns drawn because they didn't know what to expect. They went room to room to make sure each was clear.

The TV was on fairly loud. He noticed shell casings on the floor near Mersereau​'s body, another on a nearby ottoman, and bullet holes in the glass of a door.

Wiretap conversation

In his opening remarks, Craig told jurors they will hear from Greenwood himself because he gave a taped interview to police. The Crown will also play a conversation caught on wiretap between Greenwood and an undercover police officer.

In order to prove first-degree murder, Craig said the prosecution must show the killings were planned and deliberate.

The trial is scheduled to run six weeks.

Blair Rhodes was live blogging from the courtroom. Mobile users can follow along here.