Blood-spatter expert testifies at Leslie Greenwood trial

A Nova Scotia couple killed in September 2000 were both shot to death while seated in chairs in their rural home, an RCMP blood-splatter expert testified Thursday at the murder trial of Leslie Greenwood.

Greenwood is on trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Kentville for two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Barry Kirk Mersereau and Nancy Paula Christensen.

It is the second time he has faced trial on the charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

The trial began earlier this month, but there was no testimony this week until Thursday. Justice Jamie Campbell told the jury they may notice Greenwood now has a black eye and is in pain, but said it has nothing to do with the case and warned them not to speculate on why.

The jury heard Thursday from RCMP Sgt. Adrian Butler, who testified he drew on autopsy reports and photos from the crime scene in Centre Burlington, N.S., to draw conclusions about how the couple died on Sept. 9, 2000.

Butler said Christensen was sitting upright in a chair when she was shot twice in the head. He said she slumped over on her left side as she died.

Butler concluded Mersereau was also seated when he was shot twice behind his left ear, but then went down on one knee before falling face first on a seat cushion on the ground where he died.

Mersereau had hundreds of small blood droplets on the back of his shirt, Butler said.

The prosecution has alleged the couple were "executed in cold blood." The Crown's key witness is convicted killer Michael Lawrence, who is serving a life sentence for his role in the murders.

Lawrence has testified he shot the couple, but only after Greenwood entered the house first and killed them with a gun of his own. Lawrence said he agreed to take part in the killings in order to pay off a $28,000 drug debt to a man named Curtis Lynds, who wanted Mersereau and Christensen dead.

Blair Rhodes was live blogging from the court. On mobile? Follow along here.