In the weeks before she was shot to death, Deena Brooks appeared to be moving towards starting a new life without Mitchell Brooks, her husband of 23 years.
The mother of two shared her feelings in hundreds of text messages she exchanged with her sister-in-law and on Monday those messages were read out in court.
"I think the decision has been made. I can't go back," Deena wrote. "I just don't feel the same."
Jane Brooks, an emergency room doctor in Nova Scotia and no relation to Mitchell, testified about the text messages she exchanged with Deena starting in March 2013.
Jane told court that in February 2013, she revealed she was leaving her husband and that Deena started to share thoughts of her own marital discontent in texts.
"She was having feelings that she wasn't happy in her marriage and towards the end of March the frequency of texts increased."
Jane testified that she was close with both Deena and Mitchell and that Mitchell had first told her he suffered from depression 8 to 10 years ago.
Mitchell Brooks, 51, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the May 24, 2013 death of Deena, 50, who was a lab technician at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre.
In the texts, Deena appears to fluctuate between disgust for Mitchell and concern.
"I worry so much about him hurting himself…He has pretty much stopped eating...I would feel better if he had better mental health."
But other texts read out by Jane Brooks suggest Deena had different feelings about the husband she said had been sleeping in his clothes and not showering more than once a week for almost a year
"Mitchell is not a nice guy," she wrote and said that Mitchell "can be a giant asshole" who was prone to "outbursts."
"He's pretty broken up but so far only 'tears' up," the jury heard Deena wrote. "The 'mad' is coming. I can always feel it."
Court heard that Deena wrote she wanted to buy Mitchell out of their house and was worried about how to make ends meet if she had to support the self-employed carpenter.
She claimed that her daughters had been telling her "for a long time" to leave their father and that their youngest daughter Kristin, who tearfully testified last week, says she is "NOT living with dad."
The jury heard that on April 15, 2013 Deena said a separation agreement was done and that on May 9 she had her first meeting with a divorce lawyer.
In addition to the texts, Jane Brooks testified about a lengthy phone call she had with Deena on April 24.
During that call the sister-in-law said Deena called Mitchell "vindictive" and "angry."
"I asked her if she was safe," Jane recalled.
"She said she was."
The trial continues.
