Advisory: This story has graphic and disturbing details about a murder case.
An Oak Bay police officer refuted defence allegations that he made no note of or told other officers of his difficulty opening the door to Andrew Berry's apartment on Christmas Day 2017.
Const. Piotr Ulanowski has been testifying at Berry's trial for the second-degree murder of his daughters, six-year-old Chloe and four-year-old Aubrey.
The 45-year-old has pleaded not guilty to the crime.
During more than two days of vigorous cross-examination, defence lawyer Kevin McCullough accused the officer of making mistakes and trying to shape the evidence to convict his client.
Although Ulanowski testified that he had difficulty entering the apartment and had to push the door open because of an obstruction, McCullough suggested the officer had no difficulty opening the door because he made no note of it that night or told investigators about it.
McCullough also suggested the constable never debriefed with the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit (VIIMCU) investigators that night. He had Ulanowski read through the reports of various officers to search for a mention of his name. Ulanowski did not find one.
As Crown prosecutor Patrick Weir began his re-examination Wednesday, he asked when Ulanwoski sat down with the VIIMCU investigators.
Ulanwoski testified it was about 10 p.m.
Weir reminded Ulanowski that he'd agreed with the defence lawyer that there was not one single word about him meeting with any of those officers in their notes. The defence suggested that because the officer was not mentioned, the briefing didn't take place.
Weir asked Ulanowksi to read several pages of the Information to Obtain, which is the investigators' application for a search warrant.
Weir directed Ulanowski to a paragraph which begins: “I spoke with Const. Ulanowski who told me the following" then asked him to read the following pages.
"In reviewing the pages, does it refresh your memory about what you said," asked Weir.
"Yes, just the order of the events," Ulanowski testified.
Weir asked him to tell the court from memory what he told the officer writing the search warrant.
“The door was difficult to open because there was clothing on the floor," said Ulanowski.
The officer also recalled going into the apartment and the bathroom door opening in.
He saw blood on the floor and a man in the tub with a black eye. The man was breathing but not responsive, Ulanowksi testified.
Oak Bay firefighters arrived, assessed Berry, removed him from the bathtub and put him on a stretcher in the hallway, the officer recalled.
Ulanowski went to the hospital with Berry.
He told the investigator writing the search warrant that he got a clear look at Berry's neck in the hospital "and there was a puncture hole in his neck."
