Sheena Cuthill denies orchestrating plot to kill ex Ryan Lane over custody

Although SheenaCuthilltestified that she knew "force" would be used when her husband and his brother confronted her ex,Ryan Lane, she denied orchestrating a plot to kill him.

The 30-year-old testified about a plan to scareLane into giving up on his efforts to have visits with the daughter they shared.

Cuthilltook the standin her own defence for the first time Fridayin Calgary. She's charged with first-degree-murder alongside her husband, Tim Rempel,and his brother, Wilhelm Rempel.

"I knew there'd be force," said Cuthill. "I wasn't expecting them to just talk to Ryan and Ryan just willingly walk away."

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Earlier in the trial, the prosecution presented evidence of text messages and phone calls between the three accused after the first mediation session that wasaimed at working out a parenting plan between Lane and Cuthill.

"Can I trust Will to have this done without the cops showing up at my door?" Cuthill texted her husband after the mediation session.

Cuthill'slawyer, AlainHepnerasked her to explain what the messages meant.

That messageaccording to Cuthill was about a plan to convince Lane to stop fighting for visits with his daughter.

"It was to meet with Ryan and kind of scare him," said Cuthill. "To make him walk away."

'Didyou want him hurt or killed'

Lane disappeared on Feb. 6, 2012. Human remains were found in a burn barrel near Beiseker months later along with Lane's class ring and pieces of his cell phone.

He was seen getting into a truck that matched one Wilhelm Rempelused apressure washer to clean the inside of and thensold in the days following Lane's disappearance.

DNA from Lane was found in both Rempelbrothers' trucks.

"Did you want him hurt or killed?" Hepner asked Cuthill.

"No, there was no discussion of that," she said.

'I didn't want him to have anything'

Cuthill admitted to living a rough, at times violent lifestyle before her first child was born but explained to the jury that she'd changed.

Over and over, she testified that textmessages the Crown says are evidence of a murder plot are actually "inappropriate jokes" and general "venting."

"I'd been trying to change my ways since I became a mom," she said.

Cuthill says after her second childwas born she suffered postpartum depression and was prescribed anti-depressants.

"I was not happy most of the time."

"It was getting to me," Cuthill said of Lane's efforts to see his daughter. "I didn't want him to have anything."

The prosecution team of Tom Buglas and Shane Parker will cross-examine Cuthillon Monday.

It's not yet known whether defence lawyers Allan Fay and Jim Lutz who represent Tim Rempeland Wilhelm Rempelrespectively will call their clients.