CALGARY – A neighbour says he noticed a large fire on the property of a man charged in the deaths of a couple and their grandson the morning after the three disappeared.
Brian Kalmbach says it was the size of the fire on Douglas Garland’s farm north of Calgary that caught his eye.
“It wasn’t unusual, but this fire did appear to be a little larger and had black smoke coming from it,” Kalmbach told a jury Thursday. “That’s what drew my attention to it.”
Kalmbach said he noticed a light on in Garland’s greenhouse the night before and noted that it was unusual.
Garland, 56, faces three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Alvin and Kathy Liknes and five-year-old Nathan O’Brien, who disappeared from the couple’s Calgary home in 2014.
The jury has already heard how police collected tooth fragments and jewelry while sifting through ash from a burning barrel, where Kalmbach says he saw the fire.
Kalmbach’s testimony came after Garland’s defence lawyer spent much of Thursday questioning the significance of many items seized by police from the farm.
Kim Ross had explanations for many of the items found as he cross-examined chief forensic investigator Const. Ian Oxton.
Ross focused on several pairs of handcuffs police found.
“Would it be fair to say that you found a variety of cuffs — big cuffs, small cuffs, older cuffs, newer cuffs? There was a whole slew of cuffs?” Ross asked.
“Yes, there was a wide range of handcuffs,” Oxton replied
“Like someone was a collector?” Ross asked.
“Possibly, yes.”
Ross also pointed to a hacksaw, which was found to contain the DNA of Alvin Liknes and Nathan O’Brien. Oxton said it had been sent for DNA analysis, but not for fingerprinting.
“Once the DNA process is complete we can’t fingerprint after the fact. Swabbing the surface would destroy the fingerprints,” said Oxton.
“So no testing was done on that hacksaw to determine in fact that Mr. Garland, Douglas Garland, had ever handled that item?” Ross asked. “When you find these items you don’t know how long they’ve been there. You don’t know who put them there. You don’t know who owns them.”
“No,” said Oxton.
He said police chose two books out of an office that had many others, including ones on organic chemistry and teaching. One identified by police was the “Handbook of Poisoning.”
“Look at page three of that book please,” Ross asked the officer. “It reads the ‘Handbook of Poisoning: Diagnosis and Treatment.
“You agree with me that this book, it’s a medical text on the diagnosis and treatment of poisoning. It contains nothing about the manufacturing or administering of poison … simply treatment.”
Oxton, who also collected evidence at the Liknes home, said there were a number of usable fingerprints found at the residence, but none of them was a match for any suspects, including Garland.
“You didn’t find any match to Douglas Garland for fingerprints in the Liknes residence, did you?” Ross asked.
“No, we did not,” said Oxton.
“There was no other DNA matching Mr. Douglas Garland found in the Liknes residence was there? No blood, no hair, no fingerprints, no footwear samples, nothing?” Ross continued.
“That is correct.”
— Follow @BillGraveland on Twitter
