‘I was terrified, nervous, scared, wondering what had happened to her,’ Holly Hamilton’s mom tells murder trial

Angela Hamilton spoke with her daughter, Holly, every day.

When Angela would call or text, Holly would reply within an hour.

So it was very worrying when Holly wasn't answering on the night of Jan. 14, 2018, and into the next day. That worry only grew when family and friends found out Holly didn't show at work and her daughter never arrived at school.

The young girl's dad, Justin Dumpfrey, who had an on-again, off-again relationship with Holly, was never alone with his daughter, Angela testified in court Wednesday at Dumpfrey's second-degree murder trial.

He's accused of killing Holly sometime between Jan. 14 and 15, 2018. Holly's frozen body, stabbed 17 times, was found in the trunk of her work vehicle abandoned in a parking garage on Jan. 17.

Before her daughter's murder, Angela said she'd only met Dumpfrey a few times.

He wasn't a family-oriented person," Angela said.

In the beginning of the relationship, Holly thought Dumpfrey was everything to her, super nice, friendly." But that changed when Holly became pregnant, Angela said.

Angela noticed bruising on her daughter. Holly told her she was frightened almost every single day, Angela said.

Court has already heard that Dumpfrey was twice convicted of assaulting Holly. She also called police in November 2017 to report a break-in at her home, in which her place was trashed. She suspected it was Dumpfrey but the case was never solved.

Angela remembers her daughter calling in tears after the break-in. After that, her daughter was talking about moving to Ottawa - where she had family - to be safe.

Sarah Pellerin, Holly's best friend since Grade 7, also told the court how terrified Holly was after that break-in.

She said if she was there that night she wouldn't be here today," Pellerin said.

In another incident, Pellerin called police after Holly called her and Pellerin could hear screaming in the background. Holly later told her that Dumpfrey hit her in the head, while holding their daughter, as he was trying to get Holly to come back into her house with him. Pellerin said Holly had a goose egg" on her head afterwards.

This is one of the incidents that led to Dumpfrey being convicted of assault.

Holly's mom, sister Stacie and Pellerin all testified that Holly didn't want to be with Dumpfrey, that she was friendly because she wanted her daughter to have a relationship with her dad. They all said Holly would never allow Dumpfrey to be alone with his daughter.

On cross-examination, Dumpfrey's lawyer, John Erikson, continuously suggested that Holly and Dumpfrey had resumed their relationship and that she was not being honest with friends and family. Erickson showed smiling pictures of the couple together the summer before her murder and he played a video that appeared to be Dumpfrey recording Holly laughing at the beach with their daughter.

The last time Angela saw Holly was Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. She was at the family's home.

The next day Angela said Holly forwarded a text message that Dumpfrey had sent her. He said he was in hospital, with chest pains and vomiting blood, he was scared and wanted Holly to come. Angela said she told her daughter not to go. He was in good hands in the hospital.

Later that afternoon Angela called to see if Holly wanted to come with her to Walmart. Holly said no, she was planning to take her daughter to the library. That was the last time Angela spoke with her daughter.

Later that night, she began calling and texting, but Holly wasn't answering. By the next morning Angela was more worried. Both Pellerin and Holly's sister Stacie called police.

While Stacie was on the phone talking to an officer, the doorbell rang. Holly's four-year-old daughter was standing alone on the doorstep wearing a new jacket.

Angela said she saw Dumpfrey standing on the roadway. She asked him where Holly was and he replied that he didn't know.

I yelled back out, Where's Holly?' and he just kept walking," Angela said.

Back in the house, everyone was scared and was trying to calmly ask Holly's daughter what happened.

I was terrified, nervous, scared, wondering what had happened to her," Angela said.

Court also heard from the initial patrol officer who responded to the missing person. Const. Ben Kingdon walked the jury through every step he took trying to find Holly after police were called Jan. 15.

This culminated in him climbing in through a window into Dumpfrey's basement apartment on Barton Street East. No one was in the tiny apartment. The unit was messy, but the bathroom was very clean.

That really stood out to me," he said.

In the garbage can, police found a receipt from that day for FreshCo. Among the items purchased: bleach, large garbage bags, and squirt and mop cleaner. None of those items were in the apartment.

The trial continues Thursday.

Nicole O'Reilly is a Hamilton-based reporter covering crime and justice for The Spectator. Reach her via email: noreilly@thespec.com