Note: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing.
WATCH: The trial for the Oak Bay father accused of killing his two young daughters started Tuesday in Vancouver.
Lawyers and victims’ loved ones entered the Vancouver Courthouse Tuesday morning for the first day of Andrew Berry’s murder trial.
The 45-year-old is facing two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of his young daughters, Chloe and Aubrey Berry.
The Oak Bay Police officer who went to Berry’s apartment on Christmas Day 2017 to look for the girls after they weren’t returned to their mother was the first witness to take the stand.
He describes a chilling scene — blood on the floor and walls through much of the Beach Drive apartment.
Berry was in financial trouble and the hydro had been cut off so it was pitch black inside. The officer says he had to use his flashlight as he uncovered the horrific situation.
“On the bed I could see what appeared to be a body and red hair in colour,” Const. Piotr Ulanowski said, breaking down on the stand as he described finding four-year-old Aubrey Berry.
Const. Ulanowski found Berry naked in his bathtub with what police allege are self-inflicted stab wounds to his chest, neck and throat.
Court was told that when police found Berry, he said “kill me and leave me alone.”
Once he was at the hospital, the jury was told he never once mentioned his young daughters or asked about them. Instead, he complained about his parents and his children’s mother.
Berry — who sat expressionless in court — also left a note for his sister outlining his complaints.
In their opening statement, the Crown told court Berry had a gambling problem, was facing eviction, and was likely going to lose custody of his daughters.
Family and friends watching a live stream of the trial at the Victoria Courthouse held their hands over their faces and sobbed as they heard six-year-old Chloe had been hit hard enough to fracture her skull and was stabbed 26 times.
Aubrey was stabbed 32 times.
Andrew Berry has pleaded not guilty to both murders.
The trial is expected to last several weeks.
CHEK News
