Emily Sanche tried to seek medical help for boyfriend before he fatally stabbed her, court hears

Catherine Sanche says her cousin and best friend Emily Sanche never feared her boyfriend Thomas Hamp would hurt her in the weeks leading up to her death in February 2022.

Catherine Sanche says her cousin and best friend Emily Sanche never feared her boyfriend Thomas Hamp would hurt her in the weeks leading up to her death in February 2022.

Hamp is on trial at Court of King's Bench in Saskatoon for second-degree murder in the death of Sanche on Feb. 20, 2022. Hamp does not deny killing Sanche. His defence lawyer is arguing he is not criminally responsible.

Catherine described her cousin as selfless, passionate and driven. Catherine says the pair lived together for years, were lifelong best friends who would play Dungeons and Dragons with friends and ran a side business together making and selling dice bags for the game.

"I think she knew me better than anyone," Catherine said during her testimony Tuesday at Court of King's Bench in Saskatoon.

During Catherine's testimony Tuesday, she spent much of her time reading excerpts from a 10-page document she compiled for a police interview about Hamp's worsening mental health. The document was made up of text messages exchanged with Sanche over a roughly three-month period with timestamped dates and times from each message.

Hamp had been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder years earlier and was taking medication. Sanche had a career focus on the disorder after completing her psychology degree and was working towards her master's at the time of her death.

From December 2021 to February 2022, Catherine detailed a variety of concerning incidents, many of which resulted in either a trip to the hospital, a clinic or to the province's crisis health line.