Key witness testifies at Katherine Janeiro murder trial

Warning: Readers may find some details in this article disturbing or upsetting.

Nearly 30 years after Katherine Janeiro was found dead in her Barrie apartment, a key witness testified in court that she saw a man running across Dunlop Street toward Milligan's Pond the evening of the murder carrying what appeared to be a phone with a cord hanging.

"It was very odd," she said from the witness stand on Monday.

The witness shared with the courtroom that the man appeared to have been sweating or as if he had just showered, describing him as having dirty blonde hair, standing about five feet nine inches tall, clean-shaven, and wearing high socks and running shoes.

Investigators said Janeiro's phone had been ripped from the wall in her living room. Last week, a man testified about finding what was confirmed by experts to be Janeiro's missing phone in a creek about five months after her death.

On Monday, a video was shown to the jury of the key witness being interviewed by police in October 2019, during which she was presented with a photo lineup of potential suspects. After seeing the 12th and final image, she identified the man she saw running across the street that night.

"Do I have to be 100 per cent about the picture?" she asks in the video, then shortly afterwards says, "Number 12 is a yes."

During cross-examination, the defence questioned the reliability of her memory, citing inconsistencies involving the man's description from her testimony and what she previously told the court during a preliminary hearing, including his height, clothing and eye colour.

Defence lawyer Mary Cremer suggested the witness described the man she saw for mere seconds 30 years ago as having blue eyes for the first time today. The woman agreed under cross-examination.

Bruce Ellis, Janeiro's former boyfriend, is on trial, accused of killing the 20-year-old mother and ripping a phone from the wall of her apartment.

The Crown alleges Ellis, also known as Robert MacQueen, was angry at Janeiro for telling his wife he had gotten her pregnant and for spreading rumours that he had contracted AIDS from an exotic dancer.

Ellis denies the charges, with the defence suggesting someone else may have been responsible for Janeiro's death. The court heard that Janeiro had been selling cocaine out of her apartment for a biker named Woody, who has since passed away.

The trial is ongoing with further testimony expected from Crown witnesses.

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