HALIFAX — The wife of a man accused of stockpiling chemicals in Nova Scotia says she went to police out of fear that her children would come in contact with a dangerous substance in a shed on their property.
Gosia Phillips testified at Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Thursday in the trial of her husband, Christopher Phillips, who has pleaded not guilty to threatening police officers and possessing a weapon - osmium tetroxide - for a dangerous purpose.
Phillips told the court that her husband assured her he had incinerated the osmium tetroxide after she expressed concerns about having it near their children.
But she says she went to police on Jan. 19 when a contractor doing renovations for the family said he found the substance in an unlocked shed on the property after her husband had left town.
The complaint prompted evacuations in two Halifax-area communities where chemicals were found, and a search for Christopher Phillips that ended with his arrest in an Ottawa hotel on Jan. 21.
Gosia Phillips is expected to continue her testimony this afternoon.
