Girls’ father wouldn’t communicate, mother tells murder trial into their deaths
Posted July 9, 2019 12:08 pm.
Last Updated July 9, 2019 1:05 pm.
VANCOUVER — A trial of a Vancouver Island father accused of killing his two young daughters has heard that his ex-partner was “very upset” with a court decision that gave him joint custody.
Defence lawyer Kevin McCullough is cross-examining Sarah Cotton, the mother of six-year-old Chloe and four-year-old Aubrey, who were found dead in their father’s apartment in Oak Bay, B.C., in December 2017.
McCullough asked if Cotton was “very upset” with the custody decision in May 2017 that allowed Berry access to their daughters 40 per cent of the time and she agreed that she was.
She told a B.C. Supreme Court jury that she was also very concerned about the schedule that was put in place for the girls because it meant “too much back and forth.”
McCullough says texts and emails between the parents in July 2017 suggest co-parenting was going well and they were speaking in person, but Cotton says Berry would not communicate with her face to face.
Berry has pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.
The Crown has argued that he stabbed his daughters dozens of times before attempting to kill himself.
The Canadian Press
