Thomas Svekla tried to jam a duffel bag into his car before yelling out "I didn't kill the girl," a friend testified at Svekla's double-murder trial Wednesday.

But that testimony, given by Brad Ludwick, was later thrown into doubt when he was cross-examined, wrapping up day two of the dramatic court proceedings.

Svekla is charged in the deaths of former sex-trade workers Theresa Innes and Rachel Quinney

Ludwick testified he discovered Svekla on his property east of Edmonton coming out of the bush carrying the bag one day in June 2004.

He told the judge-only trial that saw Svekla stuffed it into his vehicle and sped away, yelling to Ludwick -- quote -- "I didn't kill the girl'' as he drove past.

Before coming to Ludwick's property to pick up his car, Svekla had called to say he was in police custody after finding Quinney's body.

"He mentioned he had found a body," he said. "Maybe a prostitute ... the genitals had been cut out."

But under cross-examination by defence lawyer Robert Shaigec, the court heard that a judge was told a different story from Ludwick.

"I'm suggesting to you (that) you never saw Mr. Svekla carry a bag," Shaigec said to Ludwick. "Your wife saw it, she told you she saw it."

Shaigec then showed the court Ludwick's preliminary testimony containing his previous statements. Ludwick said five separate times that he did not see the bag.

"I have no comment," Ludwick said outside the courtroom.

Another witness testified she couldn't remember seeing a body when Svekla took her to the same wooded area where Quinney was found in 2004.

Jolene Rea, 31, said she had known Svekla for a few years when they got together to "get high" and drive around in his white truck during the spring and summer of 2004.

"He told me police might be questioning me because he found a body and I was supposedly with him in the area when that occurred," Rea said.

The 31-year-old said she does not remember much of the nights before June 11, 2004 when Svekla allegedly stumbled upon Quinney's body.

"We were out in a field somewhere east of the city," she said of a night when she and Svekla went to the same spot when Quinney's body was later found.

She said she only remembers seeing "beehives or something."

She admitted she was "probably quite high" at the time.

She then told court police contacted her a year later and drove her to the area where Quinney's body was found in a wooded area near Sherwood Park.

Under cross-examination, Rea told defence lawyer Robert Shaigec she had to be driven to the spot because she would not know how to get there.

The trial continues until June.

With files from David Ewasuk and the Canadian Press

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