It was a scene of unimaginable horror.

A policeman on the witness stand was brought to tears as he described the gruesome sight he faced as a rookie officer responding to a call on a bitterly cold winter night.

At 3 a.m. February 23, 2007, Dwain Newham was the first officer on the scene of a collision that saw a Nissan torn open after it slammed into the back of a stationary tractor-trailer, an Oakville court heard.

"It was a horrible scene. There was a male..." Newham said, his voice trailing off.

The Steeles Avenue/Fifth Line collision -- on the border of Milton and Halton Hills -- left one man dead, 33-year-old Jason Wood of Hornby, and Miltonian Lori McKinley seriously injured.

A third person, 31-year-old local resident Dylan Palmer, was uninjured.

Later that day, Palmer was charged with impaired driving causing death, impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, and having over the legal limit of alcohol in his blood.

He pleaded not guilty.

Tuesday and Wednesday were the first days of Palmer's trial, which is being heard by Judge Stephen Brown.

In her overview, Crown Attorney Laurie Jago told the court that Palmer, McKinley and Wood had consumed alcohol first at the Hardball Café on Regional Road 25, and then at Charley Fitzwhiskey's on Ontario Street before heading east along Steeles where the tragedy took place.

Three officers and the driver of the tractor-trailer took to the stand this week. They each testified that at the scene of the accident they were led to believe by various people that Palmer hadn't been driving, but that it was a fourth man.

But after an extensive search using police canine dogs and the fire department's infrared technology, police came up empty-handed, court heard.

Newham told the court when he realized he couldn't do anything for the male on the road, he went to the woman. She was being comforted by a man he later found out was Palmer, her common-law spouse.

Other officers arrived, and Newham was directed to search the surrounding area for a fourth person.

"I was looking for blood, footprints, anything to indicate someone had wandered from the scene," he said.

But he didn't find anything.

Court heard Palmer told him he was a rear passenger in the car and that one of Wood's friends had been driving, but that he didn't know the man's name.

The car, Newham told the court, looked like someone had "ripped it open on its right side."

Under cross-examination, Newham was questioned by defence lawyer Michael Caroline about whether someone could have left the scene along the roadway. He said he would have noticed if a pedestrian had headed westbound, because that's the direction he drove in from.

Dino Berno, the driver of the tractor-trailer, also gave the court his re-collections, prompted by Jago. The massive vehicle had been stopped at the south side of Steeles Avenue, half on the shoulder, half on the roadway, beacon light flashing, he said. There was some illumination from streetlights. He was in the cab of a dump truck on the back of the float trailer getting ready to back it off when he looked in his rear-view mirror.

"I heard a noise at the front of the dump truck and out of the corner of my eye saw some debris," he said, adding, "I saw a car go sliding down the roadway."

Not knowing what had happened, Berno reached the ground and called 911, court heard. He saw one person on the ground he knew was dead, and a woman lying on the ground with a head injury. Hovering over her was Palmer.

"I asked (Palmer) if he was the driver and he said no. I asked him 'Where's the driver?' and he said he didn't know," Berno recalled, adding Palmer showed no signs of emotion.

Berno put a hat under the woman's head and went to look for a fourth person, he told the court.

"Did you receive any assistance from Mr. Palmer looking for the fourth person?" Jago asked him. "No," he replied.

During cross-examination, Caroline grilled Berno about the steps he had taken -- or not taken -- to make the vehicle visible to passing cars.

During his turn on the witness stand, investigating officer and collision re-constructionist Richard Solecki told the court it seemed the driver of the Nissan had unsuccessfully swerved to the left to try to avoid the tractor-trailer.

Palmer, he said, told police he was seated behind the passenger front seat occupied by his wife. But looking at the way the car was damaged, that didn't make sense, he said.

"The only portion that was undamaged was the front driver's seat area," court heard. "It didn't jive that there was a fourth person."

Caroline asked Solecki whether there was enough time for someone to jog away before police arrived. "I don't know. I'm not a jogger," he replied.

Caroline also asked him about the visibility of the tractor-trailer and whether someone would expect to see such a vehicle blocking part of the road at that time of day.

Solecki replied that you can always expect to find something.

Halton Regional Police officer David Freeland also testified, and said it was the injured woman who told him there were four occupants in the vehicle.

The trial will continue Tuesday in Burlington and Wednesday and Thursday in Oakville.

Stephanie Hounsell can be reached at sthiessen@miltoncanadianchampion.com.