Anja Kuster first testified she saw accused murderer Joseph “David” Caissie on two separate occasions in Alberta the day Carol King disappeared, but backtracked on her evidence under cross-examination.

Kuster, who testified Tuesday as the defence’s sole witness in Caissie’s first-degree murder trial, was working at the Siesta Hotel in Olds Alberta in 2011.

Caissie is accused of killing his then ex-girlfriend King in Aug. 2011, disposing of her body and driving her vehicle in to a slough. He was arrested and charged in the murder in July 2016.

Kuster testified Caissie stayed at the hotel in July and August of 2011 and that she saw him at the hotel on Aug. 6 – the same day King disappeared. Kuster said she saw him between 5-7 p.m. and around 9:45 p.m. when Caissie knocked on her window to say goodnight

“One hundred per cent,” Kuster responded when asked by defence lawyer Kevin Hill how certain she was about seeing Caissie.

Kuster began having a difficult time answering questions under cross-examination and at one point appeared to become anxious. She had difficulty breathing and referred to a panic attack before the court took a break for her to compose herself.

At the beginning of her testimony, Kuster said she remembers many details of Aug. 6 including the weather, what time the sun went down and what Caissie was wearing.

After changing her testimony and being questioned about why her statements during trial differ from what she told police in 2011, Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga asked Kuster:

“It’s pretty hard to be 100 per cent sure about things that happened seven years ago, don’t you agree?”

“Yes,” Kuster, who often appeared flustered and confused, responded.

Kuster was interviewed by police in the days after King’s disappearance and she testified she told officers about seeing Caissie during the two times on Aug. 6. Miazga pointed to transcripts from two of her interviews that show she told officers she didn’t know exactly when she saw Caissie.

Miazga asked again if she has recollection of Aug. 6, to which Kuster explained she remembers faces and dates but not specific times.

“I can remember. I remember faces. I never forget faces,” she said, but then stated, “And I don’t forget times.”

She said there were a lot of things happening at the hotel at that time – fights and stealing – and that made her forget things.

Justice Richard Danyliuk ruled last week Caissie’s confession of killing King to undercover police officers in a Mr. Big sting will be allowed in trial after a weeks-long voir dire (in which lawyers argue if evidence should be admissible in trial). He told officers he stabbed King and disposed of her body in a treed area near Herschel.

Hill has argued the timeline doesn’t work: Caissie wouldn’t have had time to drive from Olds to near Herschel, commit the murder, dispose of King’s body and clean up evidence then drive back to Olds.

In his written decision on the voir dire, Danyliuk said there would be a two-hour window but that doesn’t mean he’s decided whether the time line works.

Closing arguments in the trial are scheduled for Thursday at Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.