NEW WESTMINSTER - The boyfriend of a Surrey woman accused of stabbing her best female friend 41 times in his house said the place looked like a hurricane had hit it.
Jessica Ashley Hanley, 25, is being tried for second-degree murder in the death of 23-year-old Burnaby resident Tashina Rae Sutherland, killed inside a small rancher at 10593 138th St. in Whalley on April 26, 2012.Hanley's boyfriend testified Monday, in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. The witness asked not to be identified out of concern for his personal safety, a matter on which he didn't elaborate.The 38-year-old Whalley resident, a construction worker originally from Quebec, said he'd met Hanley four months before the "incident" and that they'd been living together for three months.He said he knew Sutherland for about as long as he'd known Hanley and she'd visit the couple at least twice a week."They were best friends, like sisters." The night before Sutherland was killed, he said, the three of them were drinking coolers and beers and he'd bought a half-gram of cocaine and gave it to Sutherland. He told the court he didn't use any himself.The witness said he went to bed at about 11 p.m. because he had to get up for work at 6 a.m., while the women carried on.The next day, he said, he received a barrage of text messages from Hanley while he was at work, which he didn't pay much attention to. At one point, he said, Hanley told him "I'm going to hurt Tashina," but he couldn't remember if that one was a phone call or a text message.The boyfriend testified he got home from work at about 3:30 p.m. Clothing was all over the floor, furniture was moved around and the windows were covered up with sheets and blankets, he told the court."It looked like a hurricane hit my house."He said he went into the bathroom and found Sutherland's body slumped over the bathtub with multiple stab wounds through her face, neck and head. "I was pretty sure she was dead. I didn't want to believe it."He then returned to the living room, where Hanley was sitting in a chair."I asked her 'Why? What was the meaning to the madness? Why did you do it?" Hanley allegedly replied, "It's so stupid, I'm not even going to tell you."The trial continues.tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com