Sarnia murder trial Day 4: Emergency crews differ on man’s CPR attempts, woman’s injuries

Brian McNair recalled finding a man doing chest compressions on a woman with no vital signs inside a Corunna home nearly three years ago.

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“Slow, with no sense of urgency,” the Lambton paramedic and St. Clair Township part-time firefighter testified Friday in a Sarnia courtroom during Day 4 of Shawn Trowbridge’s first-degree murder trial.

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However, Kirk Smith, another Lambton paramedic who arrived at the same time as McNair, said the compressions were rapid, but shallow.

“He wasn’t getting the accurate depth that you need for CPR,” he declared. “And too fast.”

During cross-examination, McNair reiterated the potentially life-saving maneuver was being done slower than it’s supposed to be. But he also agreed with defense lawyer Tyler MacDonald he didn’t know how long the man had been doing it before they arrived minutes after midnight on Dec. 31, 2020.

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Additionally, McNair said they were trained to do pit crew CPR, where emergency responders take turns for two minutes or less as studies show the first 30 compressions are the most effective. He agreed the pace and quality could be off due to fatigue from one person doing them for too long.

McNair and Smith were two of four emergency responders who tried to save Cheryl VanHuizen’s life and were called to the stand Friday as the trial of Trowbridge, VanHuizen’s common-law husband, continued. The 54-year-old boilermaker from the Corunna-Mooretown area pleaded not guilty earlier this week at the beginning of what’s expected to be a six-week trial in front of a jury.

Cameron Primeau, another St. Clair Township firefighter who responded to the call that night, recalled seeing a man in boxers and a T-shirt in the master bedroom where they found VanHuizen, a 51-year-old waitress and professional cleaner, with no vital signs.

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“Appeared to be distracted, emotional,” he said of the man.

Both firefighters said the woman was pale and never showed signs of responding to live-saving procedures, but they also didn’t see any signs of injury, either.

“Nothing that stands out immediately. I didn’t see anything,” McNair testified.

Smith, however, did.

“I noticed bruising around the neck and bruising and some swelling on the left side of the face,” the paramedic testified.

All the emergency responders recalled seeing or hearing about the master bedroom door being damaged. Primeau said there was a crack near the door handle latch and there was a discussion about it with an OPP officer in the room.

“I do remember that being a topic of discussion,” declared Darien Primeau, Cameron Primeau’s brother and a third St. Clair Township firefighter called in that night.

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The damaged door took up a large part of the trial on Thursday, with the prosecutors showing the jury pictures of it then physically bringing it into the courtroom to give them an in-person glimpse. It had dark smear marks where investigators tried to find fingerprints.

During Friday’s cross-examination of the first responders, MacDonald focused on the gowns and gloves they were wearing at the time due to COVID-19 pandemic precautions and whether they took them off in the master bedroom.

Along with the testimony, the jury heard another brief statement of agreed facts: police seized five cellphones from the home during their investigation. Three belonged to Trowbridge and two to VanHuizen. Each of them had one in the house and one in a safe, while Trowbridge had a third device identified as a working iPhone that was found in the basement toilet.

The trial continues next week. Trowbridge initially was charged with second-degree murder, but the charge was later upgraded to first-degree. He’s out of custody as he was released on $170,000 lease in December 2021.

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@ObserverTerry

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