They were broke and needed more money for beer, Karen Rodrigue's common-law husband, Daniel McGinnis, told the Yukon Supreme Court jury Monday.

That's what prompted the woman charged with Gerald Dawson's murder to visit him in the early evening on July 16, 2004, he said yesterday afternoon.

'(Rodrigue and I) were drinking and doing come coke . . . . We might have needed some more beer,' he told the seven women and five men now in their fifth day of hearing the charge of second-degree murder against Rodrigue. 'She said she was going to borrow $30 off of Gerald.'

Rodrigue didn't come home for many hours though.

Although he expected her back right away, McGinnis told the court he didn't see Rodrigue until about 5 a.m.

She was yelling up to their window to be let into the bachelor apartment they shared on Jeckell St.

'Karen's at the window . . . I can hear her yelling,' he said.

McGinnis described his state of mind at that time as 'hung over,' scoring an eight-out-of-ten for intensity.

While his recollection is not entirely clear, he said he thought Rodrigue came in with a six-pack of beer.

'She was kind of rough looking,' he said. 'She looked like she was irritated or buggered, or screwed up or something.'

He could not recall if Rodrigue had any marks or bruises on her because of his hang over. It was fair to say that he was not really paying attention to her, he said agreeing with defence lawyer Nils Clarke while under cross examination.

While he didn't notice right away, McGinnis said Rodrigue came home with one of Dawson's cars.

'She told me Gerald went on holidays and she could have the car till he got back,' McGinnis said.

This wasn't out of the ordinary because Rodrigue had borrowed Dawson's cars before, McGinnis added.

The couple then drank the beer she had brought home, McGinnis told the court.

'That's where things get blurry,' he said, noting that his memory of what came next is not clear.

He described the following ten days as a 'big party.' One that lasted from the time Rodrigue came home with the car, until police arrested them on July 27 for possession of stolen property.

During his cross examination this morning, the defence lawyer asked McGinnis to clarify his definition of a party, suggesting it diverged from the usual meaning of the word to describe a celebration for a birthday, or a retirement, or the end of the softball season.

'You're in the throws of a serious alcohol addiction. You're in the throws of a serious cocaine addiction,' Clarke said.

McGinnis agreed, saying he started drinking at the age of 14.

'Since I first picked up a drink,' he said.

He has been using cocaine since 2003.

Over the course of the ten days of partying that followed Dawson's death, Rodrigue and McGinnis used both of his cars, McGinnis told the court.

They were using the silver coloured Lumina first, but were involved in an accident at Fourth and Main, while coming out of the Town & Mountain hotel. They took off, McGinnis testified, because they'd been drinking.

The couple later went to Dawson's Marwell area home to drop off the silver car and take the other vehicle, a blue Chevy Lumina.

This is the car they were ultimately arrested in.

They used the car for a variety of purposes, like driving around town and to pick up drugs, McGinnis told the jury.

They had planned a trip to Kusawa Lake, McGinnis said, because he wanted to 'straighten out' and 'stay off booze and drugs.'

The car was packed with 'a blanket and some grub' and they were on there way out of Whitehorse, but turned back at the Takhini River bridge.

When asked why they turned around, McGinnis replied first that 'they were all stoned up' and then that he didn't know.

While McGinnis described their financial situation as 'broke,' he said he was receiving employment insurance at a rate of '$700 and something' every two weeks.

The couple's dire financial straights were temporary though, clarified Clarke, as they were in between E.I. checks.

'(Rodrigue) would phone Mr. Dawson when she had temporary financial problems,' he said.

Rodrigue and McGinnis also sold two of Dawson's chainsaws, he said, and filled a few Jerry cans with gasoline to trade for drugs with a local dealer.

The gas was paid for by a card, McGinnis said, which required a pass number that Rodrigue knew.

They also used the card to fill a vehicle with gas, he said, at North of 60 Petro or another gas station in the Marwell area.

McGinnis found a .22 calibre rifle in Dawson's trunk. When he found it, it wasn't loaded, he said. However, photos taken of the gun show it was indeed loaded.

McGinnis said he may have loaded the gun for 'something to do.'

By the end of ten days of partying, the two were arguing, according to McGinnis. While he said he wasn't worried about it, they did not usually fight.

'She was getting rough,' he said. '(We were) arguing with each other.'

The day the couple was taken into custody they were on their way to do laundry, McGinnis said.

They never made it there though, because a suburban RCMP vehicle pulled in front of them, he said.

'I'm sure the cops jumped out with guns.'

The two were arrested and later questioned by police. The second degree murder charges were laid against Rodrigue as a result of her conversations with police over the next hours.

McGinnis was asked if he knew of any kind of sexual relationship between Rodrigue and Dawson. They were just friends, he replied, although he had confronted his wife about the matter.

'She said she never had anything sexual to do with him.'