Officer recounts arrest of Douglas Garland at family farm near Airdrie

Garland will not testify in his own defence Ina Sidhu has the latest on the triple murder trial of Douglas Garland including testimony regarding the suspect’s arrest.

A police officer who arrested Douglas Garland in July of 2014 testified at his trial on Thursday and told the court that he was 'calm', 'expressionless' and had a 'thousand-yard stare' when he was caught.

Garland, 57, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Alvin and Kathy Liknes and their grandson Nathan O’Brien.

On Thursday, the court was shown a video from HAWCS of the arrest and heard from Calgary police Cst. Lane Trim, a HAWCS tactical flight officer.

Trim told the court that he was on shift on July 14, 2014 when he was notified about a 'target on foot' at the Garland property and said he made the decision to attend the call at around 1:00 a.m.

He said HAWCS has a 'night sun' lamp and an infrared camera that were used to help track the subject on the ground.

Trim said the technology makes the nighttime video look like it was taken in the daylight and testified that the helicopter circled around a grove of trees where the 'target' was hiding.

He said Garland tried to crawl through the trees to avoid arrest, but was intercepted when another police vehicle cut off his escape.

Cst. Jamie Parhar, a three-year veteran with the service, was the Crown’s final witness.

Parhar and her partner were called in to assist in the arrest and performed a traffic stop on a rental vehicle believed to be driven by Garland.

She told the court that the vehicle was found on a gravel road near a field but that there was no one inside.

She said that the area was 'pitch black' and she couldn't see anything, but that they were instructed to track the subject down.

She told the court that they drove their cruiser into the field but had to leave the vehicle behind and continue on foot.

Parhar said she took the radio with her to keep in touch with the surveillance unit and that she was told that Garland had changed direction so she followed.

The surveillance team told her that Garland was crawling through a heavily treed area, but Parhar was unable to spot him.

Parhar said that she had her gun in one hand and the radio in the other but had no idea where her partner was.

She told the court that she was 'tired' from the chase and 'worried' about being alone but her partner soon showed up along with another police cruiser.

Parhar said she handcuffed Garland herself and described his demeanour as 'calm' and said his face was 'expressionless' and that he had a 'thousand-yard stare'.

She said that Garland followed the commands of the police officers and was handed over to RCMP for processing.

The Crown has now closed its case and the defence has said it will not be presenting any evidence.

The trial will resume on Monday with final arguments and the jury is expected to be charged on Tuesday.