Bradley Barton appeared 'not really bothered' by dead body in bathroom, witness says

Ahotel maintenance worker says the man accused of killing Cindy Gladue seemed "not really bothered" that there was adead body in the bathroom of his hotel room.

Daniel Chartrand testified Tuesday that he went toroom 139 of the Yellowhead Inn on the morning of June 22, 2011, after hearing from a front-desk worker that a 911 call had been made asking for assistance to that room.

Chartrand said he used his emergency key card to gain access to the room after knocking several times. After he entered, he said, he found Bradley Barton sitting down, facing him, talking on the room phone.

"I asked him, you know, 'What seems to be the problem?'" Chartrand testified. "He looked at me and he said, 'Look in there,' and pointed at the bathroom."

Chartrand told Crown prosecutor Julie Snowdon that Barton, who is on trial for manslaughter,seemed "very awkward, considering the situation ... not really bothered by it."

The maintenance worker said in the bathroom he saw "a bunch of blood, woman's legs in the tub," before he turned and left.

"How did you feel when you saw the blood and the woman in the bathroom?" Snowdon asked.

"I felt endangered," Chartrand replied, on the verge of tears. "This ain't a regular thing, it ain't. Everything about it's not regular."

Chartrand said he told Barton to stay in the room, then went to the front desk and told them paramedics were needed as there was someone "badly injured or deceased" in the hotel room.

Gladue, 36, bled to death, her naked body found in the bathtub of Barton's hotel room.

The jury was previously told that Gladue was last seen alive with Barton going into room 139 at the Yellowhead Inn.

Alberta's former chief medical examiner, Dr. Graeme Dowling, testified last week that an 11-centimetre wound to Gladue's vagina caused her death, saying it would have taken "fairly considerable" force to create the wound.

• 'Considerable' force needed to fatally injure Cindy Gladue, jury told

During Tuesday's cross-examination by defence lawyer Dino Bottos, the jury heard that Chartrand previously testified during a 2012 preliminary inquiry that Barton had a "puzzled look, like a shocked look" when the maintenance worker entered the room.

Bottos suggested that Chartrand's comments Tuesday differed from his previous testimony. But during a tense exchange, Chartrand implied his recall of the morning's events is better now than it was when he testified in 2012.

Gladue found in bloody bathtub: police officer

Edmonton police Const. Dean Dukart testified that he and his partner, Const. Casey Sled, arrived at the hotel at 8:08 a.m., roughly five minutes after they received a priority-one dispatch call.

Dukart said the officers met a maintenance worker who appeared to be in an "excited state" and followed him to the suite.

As they approached room 139, Dukart said, he could smell a strong odour, one he recognized as "the smell of a dead body."

He said the door to the room was open and a man was on the bed with his back to them, holding a phone to his head.

Dukart said heimmediately went into the bathroom.

"There was blood on two of the walls in the bathtub, as well as inside the bathtub, and there was a body inside the tub," Dukart testified.

He said the woman's body was naked and the blood appeared dry,and that the shower curtain was initially closed about a third of the way.

He said he checked for a pulse but the body was cold and he did not see any obvious signs of trauma.

• Accused killer told police he found dead woman in bathtub but did nothing wrong, court hears

The constable said he saw a bag of what appeared to be women's clothes under the sink.

When he left the bathroom a few minutes later, Dukart testified, he saw a pile of blankets or bed sheets on the floor between the bed and the wall. They had a "large volume" of blood on them, he said.

Dukart said not long after that, he went back into the bathroom with an EMS member who confirmed that Gladue was dead.

Sled testified that Barton followed his instructions to hang up the phone and move towardthe hotel-room door. He said Barton was co-operative.

'I didn't do anything'

Another EPS constable atthe scene, Cameron Jones, testified that a man exited the hotel room shortly after Dukart and Sled entered.

Jones said he asked for the man's driver's licence, which identified him as Barton.

The officer said he got Barton's phone number and profession, then escorted him, without handcuffs, to his police vehicle.

Jones testified that Barton, 52, soon began talking. Reading from his notes, he said Barton told him he had arrived in Edmonton late on the evening of June 19, 2011.

The constable said he read Barton his Charter rights and placed him in "investigative detention."

Jones said when he asked Barton if he wanted to call a lawyer, the man replied, "No, I didn't do anything."

Reading from his notes, Jones said Barton again told him: "I'm married and I don't do this stuff."

Jones and his partner took Barton to EPS headquarters and eventually left him in the custody of homicide detectives.

The trial continues Wednesday. It is scheduled to last seven weeks.