RCMP began conducting surveillance of Mark Stobbe in the days following his wife's violent death and even followed him to Saskatchewan for her funeral.

Retired Cpl. Randy Randell took the witness stand Tuesday at Stobbe's trial, telling jurors how police began trying to build a case against him almost immediately.

They were secretly monitoring his movements while trying to gather forensic evidence from two separate crime scenes.

"Was it to see if he was meeting a girlfriend?" Stobbe's lawyer, Tim Killeen, asked during cross-examination. "You were trying to find out if he was doing anything suspicious, anything out of the ordinary for a man who'd just lost his wife?"

Randell didn't recall any theories about another woman but admitted police were very curious about Stobbe's behaviour following the October 2000 slaying of Beverly Rowbotham.

Stobbe, 54, was a high-ranking political adviser in Saskatchewan and Manitoba at the time. He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in a trial scheduled to run until the end of March.

The Crown admits they have a circumstantial case against him and are calling nearly 80 witnesses to testify.

Randell also provided detailed insight into the early stages of the investigation, which included carefully crafted media releases which held back certain details of Rowbotham's death.

Randell said there were several pieces of "hold back" evidence which only the killer would know about and which police didn't want to make public.

That included the fact Rowbotham was struck 16 times with a hatchet or axe, two of her fingers were severed and her wedding rings were missing.

The Crown contends Rowbotham was killed in the backyard of her St. Andrews's home, then moved into the family sedan and driven to Selkirk where the vehicle was abandoned.

The Crown's theory is Stobbe bicycled back to his house before phoning relatives, the local hospital and RCMP.

Stobbe told police he fell asleep in the house with his two sons after Rowbotham left to go grocery shopping. He claims to have awoken in the early morning hours to find his wife missing, which touched off several phone calls to family, friends and ultimately police.

Randell told jurors Tuesday how officers conducted several "noise tests" at the Stobbe residence. He remained inside the house while another investigator stood in the backyard, yelling for help.

Randell said he could clearly hear his partner. As well, Randell said he also heard the garage door being opened and closed while inside the home.

Police began appealing to the public for help, and Randell said it paid off when area residents found Rowbotham's watch and wallet along the banks of the Red River. That led to police divers going into the water to search for other potential items of interest, but nothing else was found.

Jurors have previously heard how Rowbotham's killer made an obvious attempt to clean up the crime scene either before or after moving her body.

Insp. Bruce Maclean, a retired RCMP blood-spatter expert, said he was surprised by how little blood was found in the backyard and garage of Rowbotham's home. It's possible the lack of blood could be explained if Rowbotham was attacked, wrapped in a tarp and then placed in her car, Maclean said.