Whether a man participated in a home invasion is at the centre of a trial that began Monday at the Prince George courthouse.
Dillon Benjamin Ertmoed pleaded not guilty to 11 charges from the Aug. 24, 2012 incident.
Another man, Dohn William Schmidt, was sentenced in May 2013 to a further three years and eight months in jail after pleading guilty to three counts related to the matter.
The court heard Monday that on the day of the offence, a 62-year-old woman living in a South Ogilvie home woke up at about 4 a.m. because she could not breathe and found someone pressing a pillow against her face.
Although she could not identify the culprits, she determined there were at least two men in the room because one had held her legs while the other duct-taped her arms together.
They eventually left the home while she remained bound but eventually she broke free and went to a neighbour's home and the RCMP were alerted.
The thieves made off with a number of firearms, including three semi-automatic handguns, as well as a 60-inch television, a Honda Civic and other items, according to details provided during Schmidt's sentencing hearing.
The woman and her son lived in the home but he was away at a work camp when the crime was committed.
The Crown's case against Ertmoed will rely primarily on two pieces of forensic evidence and testimony from a key witness.
Ertmoed's DNA was found on a cigarette butt found just outside the home's main entrance and on the rim of a half-consumed bottle of pop found in the home's basement, the court was told.
The Crown also expects one of the witnesses will testify he saw Ertmoed and Schmidt in possession of several of the stolen items shortly after the robbery and were trying to open a safe that went missing from the home.
The judge-alone trial is being held before B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ron Tindale. A dozen witnesses are scheduled to testify on the Crown's behalf over five days.
