Jurors at the Michael Ball murder trial heard Wednesday from three people who saw Erin Howlett on June 27, 2013 – the last day she was seen alive.
First on the stand was Leah Walter, who met Howlett for lunch at a restaurant in Elmira.
Walter testified that Howlett was late for the lunch date, and only stayed for about 15 minutes before a man she did not recognize came to pick her up.
That man was J.P. Walton, who was the second person to testify Wednesday.
Walton said that he drove Howlett to Kitchener, where the two had a drink, and then dropped her at a house on Chestnut Street.
There were three men in the driveway on Chestnut, he said – none of whom he knew.
The trial has previously heard that Ball lived in a basement apartment at a home on Chestnut, where Howlett frequently visited.
Walton said that he and Howlett sent text messages back and forth into the evening, ending with a message sent from Walton to Howlett at 6:41 p.m.
Howlett’s remains were found in the Grand River eight days later.
The third witness told the court that he saw a blonde woman get dropped off at Ball’s home on that day.
He could not say whether that woman was Howlett, he said, as he did not know her.
The man testified that he was later contacted by police, who told him that the same woman had been found dead.
Ball told him the same thing, he testified.
Ball, who was arrested in late 2013, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and committing an indignity to a dead body.
