Article content
Alleged manslaughter victim Kevin Honish wasn’t wounded when he left a Calgary home where he was purportedly attacked, the accused’s former fiance told court Tuesday.
Rachel Harkiss said she had just entered the living room of the southeast residence rented by Collin Dean Oxtoby when she heard him tell Honish he would have to leave.
Article content
And Harkiss told defence counsel Jim Lutz that Honish was uninjured when he was evicted from the home, evidence which contrasted the deceased’s then-girlfriend.
Article content
Julianna (Jules) Ballantyne had earlier testified in Calgary Court of King’s Bench that Honish was bleeding profusely when Oxtoby told the two of them they would have to move out.
Harkiss painted an entirely different picture, noting Ballantyne and Honish were consuming fentanyl during the July 8, 2022, incident.
“He left our house fine. There was nothing wrong with him. Him and Jules left together,” she said.
Oxtoby is charged with manslaughter in the death of Honish, who succumbed eight days later to a severe brain injury as a result of blunt force trauma to his head.
He was originally charged with second-degree murder.
It’s the Crown’s theory Honish’s head injury was the result of being struck in the head by Oxtoby with a hammer as the two men argued in the home.
Recommended from Editorial
Under cross-examination by prosecutor Gord Haight, Harkiss admitted she lied to police about being present in the home when questioned by a detective on Aug. 10, 2022, five days after her then-fiance was arrested for murder.
Article content
Harkiss initially said she wasn’t there, telling an officer she was “bar hopping” with friends that night.
“Your initial instinct was to lie to the police?” the prosecutor charged.
“Correct,” Harkiss said.
But she said her motive for doing so was to avoid being charged with breaching a no contact order with Oxtoby in place at the time.
Haight suggested it didn’t make sense for Harkiss to leave her boyfriend behind bars on a murder charge to avoid an allegation of breaching a court order.
“No it doesn’t,” Harkiss conceded.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
Share this article in your social network
