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Note: This story contains details that some readers may find disturbing.
WATCH: A third witness has taken the stand at the Andrew Berry murder trial. Berry is charged with killing his two daughters. Tess van Straaten reports.
When Oak Bay firefighters arrived at Andrew Berry’s Beach Drive apartment on Christmas Day 2017, they knew the bodies of two little girls were inside.
Firefighter Bradley Trenholm testified that they talked about it on the short ride over from the fire hall.
The veteran firefighter was acting lieutenant that day.
Trenholm says he told his colleagues to wait outside while he assessed the scene.
He told court he didn’t want them to be scarred by what they saw.
Treholm is the third witness to take the stand at Andrew Berry’s murder trial.
He’s charged with two counts of second degree murder in the deaths of his daughters — six-year-old Chloe Berry and four-year-old Aubrey Berry.
Trenholm was taken to Berry, who was naked in the bathtub, to provide first aid.
He says he was being careful because there was blood everywhere.
Berry had stab wounds to his upper left chest and his right eye was swollen shut.
Trenholm says he was concerned for his safety because he didn’t know where the knife was.
The tub was full of water, mixed with blood, and he says he was worried it might be in the water.
As he took Berry’s vitals, he says Berry opened his left eye and turned to look at him.
“I thought I heard him say, ‘kill me, just kill me” or something along those lines,” Trenholm told court.
Trenholm went to get help to move Berry’s body out of the tub.
He says Berry repeated that again later — saying “kill me or just kill me.”
Threnholm says they were told en route to the call that Berry’s wounds were self-inflicted.
He admits he can’t remember much of what happened that night. He’s not sure if it’s because of the traumatic nature of the call and he’s trying to block it out or because it was 16 months ago.
Cross-examination will continue tomorrow.
A juror was removed from the trial this afternoon but the jury wasn’t told why so we can’t report the reason.
Tess van Straaten
