Holding a photo of Beverly Littlecrow’s college graduation, Lucille Littlecrow said she remembers a chilling conversation she had with her daughter just two months before she died.
She said Littlecrow told her she was afraid of moving to British Columbia with her boyfriend, Gabriel Joseph Faucher, because she thought he might kill her.
The statement is the subject of a voir dire: A hearing to determine whether it should be admissible evidence at Faucher’s manslaughter trial in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.
Faucher, 45, is accused of killing Littlecrow during a domestic dispute at their home in Kinley, Sask. on Jan. 24, 2016. He told police that his 36-year-old girlfriend died after falling and hitting her head twice in three days.
Gabriel Joseph Faucher (left) is accused of killing his 36-year-old girlfriend Beverly Littlecrow
Lucille said she told her daughter to leave or they would come get her, but it never happened. Defence lawyer Andrew Mason asked why she didn’t act if she truly thought Littlecrow was in danger.
“I should have,” Lucille replied, adding she didn’t know how to get to Kinley, west of Saskatoon.
She said although she never witnessed any violence between the couple, she used to see her daughter with black eyes “all the time.”
Mason pointed to Lucille’s police statement, where she said there had been no indication of any prior violence. Lucille said she realized that was the wrong answer once her mind was clearer.
On the trial proper, Lucille said her daughter had a slight balance problem due to a prior brain injury, but wasn’t “falling all over the place” like Faucher claimed at the hospital.
Court also heard neither the victim nor the accused drank alcohol.
Lucille testified having a hostile relationship with Faucher ever since she kicked him out of her house, even though she told a preliminary hearing there was no hostility between them prior to Littlecrow’s death.
A decision on the voir dire is expected on Tuesday.