Thomas Ted Barrett murder trial underway in Sydney

The second-degree murder trial of Thomas Ted Barrett of Glace Bay in the death of 21-year-old Brett ElizabethMacKinnonis underwayin Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Sydney.

Barrett, 40,has elected trial by judge alone.

MacKinnon went missing in June of 2006. She left behind her personal belongings,failed to pick up her last paycheck, and her bank card was never used after her disappearance.

Her remains were found in a wooded area on the outskirts of Glace Bay in 2008.

The CBC'sYvonne LeBlanc-Smith live tweetedfrom the courtroom.

Several witnessestook the stand as the trial opened. ChantelleFrisson lived withBrett MacKinnon and MacKinnon's boyfriend, Travis Tower.

She testified that MacKinnon and Tower argued, and Tower was jealous.

MacKinnon's mother, Lynn Singleton, testified that she last saw her daughter two weeks before she went missing. Brett had suffered a miscarriage and they were at the hospital together. She said her daughter was upset and Singleton heard, over the phone, Tower threatening MacKinnon. When asked by the Crown if Singleton took the threat seriously, she said no.

Testimony continues this afternoon.

Earlier this month, Barrett's lawyer unsuccessfully argued for a publication ban on evidence to be presented at thetrial. Justice Robin Gogan dismissed the defence application.

Barrett will also be going on trial this fall for second-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Laura Catherine Jessome. A second man, 23-year-old Morgan MacNeil of Glace Bay, is also charged.

Jessome'sbody was found in a hockey bag in the MiraRiver in May 2012.

A third man, 51-year-oldRobert Edwin Matheson,has already been sentenced to 3years in prisonfor helping to dispose of Jessome's body.