Editor’s note: The following story contains graphic descriptions heard in court that may not be suitable for some readers.
The woman who says she witnessed a man running across a downtown Barrie street in 1994, carrying a telephone similar to the one which was missing from a murder scene, was picked apart by a defence lawyer Monday in the Katherine Janeiro murder trial.
The best friend of the accused also testified yesterday, which marked the 10th day in the ongoing trial.
Janeiro, 20, was found stabbed to death in her Dunlop Street West home on Oct. 10, 1994, near Anne Street.
Robert MacQueen, who is now 61 and is also known as Bruce Ellis, is on trial for second-degree murder in her death. None of the allegations against him have been proven in court.
Connie Carlson, 48, a lifelong resident of Barrie, lived in the same building as MacQueen at the time of Janeiro’s death. She told the court she had no recollection or knowledge of the homicide in 1994 or up until 2019 when she came forward to police about the phone.
Carlson stated she did not know or recognize either MacQueen or Janeiro at the time.
In the summer of 2019, however, she told police she was crossing Dunlop Street West on foot on her way to a variety store in 1994 when she saw a “man running with a phone.”
“I thought that was odd,” Carlson testified at the Barrie courthouse. “He passed me very quickly."
She claims the man was running toward a nearby natural area known locally as Milligan’s Pond.
When Carlson returned from the store 15 minutes later, she said she saw police gathered in the area near the apartment complex where Janeiro lived.
The video of her interview with detectives in 2019 showed her singling out a photo of MacQueen from a group of 12 images of different men.
In the video, Carlson is shown looking at photos one at a time, pondering some of the images longer than others.
“I feel number 12 is pretty close to what I remember,” Carlson said in the video, looking at the last image in the pile. “Something is standing out to me.”
Carlson then holds the photograph of MacQueen up to the camera during her police interview.
Defence lawyer Mary Cremer cross-examined Carlson and tried to pick apart her recollection of events that happened 30 years ago.
Cremer suggested to Carlson that she did not have a good grasp of what she thought happened in 1994 when she saw a man running across the street with a phone.
Point by point, Cremer singled out discrepancies in her description of the man, from his eye colour, hair, what he was wearing and even the time of year.
At times during Carlson's testimony, MacQueen could be seen raising his eyebrows and also shaking his head as she recounted her experience.
In Carlson’s initial statement in 2019, police asked her if she remembered the date in 1994 when she saw the man.
“Oh, no,” she said. “It was summer, I know that.”
Janeiro’s homicide occurred on Thanksgiving Monday in 1994.
“You don’t really remember,” Cremer urged Carlson, sitting on the stand in front of the jury.
“More or less, yes,” she answered. "It’s something I remembered for a very long time … a picture in my head."
Carlson admitted several times throughout her testimony that it was difficult for her to remember the incident, as "it was 30 years ago."
The other witness cross-examined Monday was Kelly Thayer, 60, who called herself MacQueen’s “best friend” at the time.
Thayer told the court Janeiro left a note on her door just prior to her death which said she had caught MacQueen in her apartment with another woman named Faith, and that Faith had AIDS. In the note, she urged Thayer to call her, and if she saw MacQueen he should call her as well.
Thayer testified MacQueen was mad about the situation and wanted his telephone back, which he had purchased. She said he was also angry about the large phone bill incurred.
In regard to Janeiro, MacQueen told Thayer he was going to “kick her teeth in,” she told the court.
Thayer said MacQueen told her he only kissed Faith when they were together when Janeiro found them. Faith was topless at the time, court heard.
“He was embarrassed,” Thayer said when she described the mood of the discussion they had about him getting caught by Janeiro.
Court previously heard from the Crown that MacQueen had been in a relationship with Janeiro while he was married and living nearby on Dunlop Street.
Thayer said she knew Janeiro well and was one of her friends.
She said she knew Janeiro owed William “Woody” Theakston, the president of the Para Dice Riders outlaw motorcycle gang, money for drugs she sold for him.
Thayer said Janeiro asked her for a loan of a few hundred dollars, as Theakston was coming by to collect.
Thayer didn’t have the money to loan to her, and noted Janeiro didn’t seem upset about it.
The trial, which is expected to last seven weeks, resumes Tuesday.
Court has heard the last time Janeiro had contact with anyone was around 4 a.m. on Oct. 10, 1994. Her body was discovered by a friend around 7 p.m. that night.
At the time of Janeiro's death, police said she had suffered multiple stab wounds. Her two-year-old daughter had been visiting family members at the time of the homicide.
Last week, MacQueen's ex-wife testified that Janeiro had told her she was pregnant, and the father was believed to be MacQueen or possibly another man.
During opening statements, the Crown said Janeiro had a "therapeutic abortion" on Sept. 16, 1994, less than a month before she was killed.
According to news reports published by the former Barrie Examiner, Janeiro’s body was found lying on the floor, covered in blood with scratches on her face. She’d been at a pair of downtown bars most of Sunday night and early Monday morning prior to her body being found.
