A close friend of Robert Pickton saw lots of blood everywhere in Mr. Pickton's trailer on one occasion in the mid-1990s, the jury at the first-degree murder trial heard yesterday.
However, the jury was not told anything else about the bloody scene. Mr. Pickton's friend, Ingrid Fehlauer, was not asked to elaborate on her testimony.
Instead, her credibility became an issue for the jury to consider.
Ms. Fehlauer had testified earlier yesterday that she did not see anything unusual when she was cleaning Mr. Pickton's trailer in late 1996 or early 1997. "Just the amount of dirt on the carpet," Ms. Fehlauer said with a chuckle.
But in cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Mike Petrie, Ms. Fehlauer agreed that she saw "lots of blood everywhere." She told the court she did not say anything about the blood earlier because defence lawyers had told her the matter would not be mentioned in court.
Ms. Fehlauer agreed with Mr. Petrie that, despite taking an oath to tell the truth, she chose to say something that she knew was untrue.
Mr. Justice James Williams told jurors to consider Ms. Fehlauer's credibility. "She answered in a way that was not truthful," Judge Williams said. The defence lawyers did not do anything improper in telling her that the matter would not be mentioned in court, he added, without explaining the basis for the lawyers' advice.
Ms. Fehlauer was the seventh witness for the defence to testify at Mr. Pickton's trial. A middle-aged mother of two children, she had known Mr. Pickton since she was a youngster of five or six. She lived across the street from the Pickton farm in the mid-1990s and did housecleaning for Mr. Pickton on six or seven occasions. Her sister was the common-law wife of Mr. Pickton's brother, Dave.
Ms. Fehlauer told the court she was on the farm two or three times a week and again on weekends from 1992 to 1998. She said the farm was bustling with activity in those years. Later, she added that the farm at various times was a dark place with almost no one there.
Her description of Mr. Pickton was in sharp contrast with the image presented earlier this week by defence lawyer Adrian Brooks, who said in an opening to the jury before calling defence witnesses that jurors would hear Mr. Pickton is a person of limited intelligence.
In response to questioning by Mr. Petrie, Ms. Fehlauer agreed that Mr. Pickton was a pretty smart guy with a good memory. Mr. Pickton actively participated at pig auctions, worked on construction of buildings and was a deft mechanic who could build a vehicle from the ground up, she said. He was a competent businessman, farmer and construction worker, she said.
Ms. Fehlauer recalled going to animal auctions with Mr. Pickton on Saturday mornings. Mr. Pickton had a pretty good eye for picking out valuable pigs and was a proficient bidder who seemed to know what he was doing at the auction, she said.
Ms. Fehlauer did general office duties at a demolition and used-building supplies business run by Mr. Pickton and his brother, Dave. She said Mr. Pickton would come by the office on Fridays to sign cheques.
Ms. Fehlauer also knew Mr. Pickton as a skillful mechanic. He could fix tractors, dump trucks, excavators, motor vehicles and all kinds of mechanical equipment, she said.
Mr. Pickton was also a skilled construction worker, she said. She had seen a house that he had worked on and a garage that he built. She believed Mr. Pickton did a good job, she told the court.
Mr. Pickton is on trial for the murder of six women between mid-1997 and late 2001. The trial continues.