As emergency officials sifted through the remains of the fire at Gordon Seybold's Ibex Valley cabin in 2008, the two people now accused of killing him were found stuck on a logging road about 30 minutes from the Swift River Lodge, witnesses at a murder trial testified Wednesday.

The jury in Christina Asp's Yukon Supreme Court trial heard from people who interacted with Asp and her boyfriend on the day Seybold's charred remains were found.

Her then-boyfriend Norman Larue is also charged with murder in the case. He is expected to go to trial later this year.

Seybold's cabin was discovered fully engulfed in flames at around 6 a.m. on March 26, 2008.

Hammond Dick testified Wednesday that that afternoon, he was on the Alaska Highway driving from Teslin to Watson Lake with his wife, Naomi Hurlbert, when a man flagged them down at a logging road near Smart River.

Hurlbert estimated it was around 4 p.m.

The motorist, identified as "Norman” or "Junior” by different witnesses, said his vehicle was stuck.

Hurlbert and Dick, who were travelling in a 4x4 truck, agreed to try to help pull the vehicle out.

Hurlbert described the logging road as "muddy and slushie,” and Dick testified it seemed "kind of odd” that people would try to drive on the road at that time of year.

Dick told the court that when he arrived at the stuck vehicle, it was in the muck up to its axles.

It wasn't until about half an hour into the rescue effort that Asp got out of the muddy vehicle carrying a small white puppy.

Both Dick and Hurlbert testified the woman was crying and appeared upset.

Neither person in the vehicle was appropriately dressed and seemed unprepared to drive in the cold weather, they said.

Other concerned motorists stopped to help, and cut down trees to put under the tires.

But after four hours of work, they had made little progress, Dick said.

As the evening got darker and colder, the other motorists suggested the stranded couple leave their vehicle and go to the nearby Swift River Lodge for help.

Both Hurlbert and Dick told the court that the couple appeared reluctant to leave their vehicle but eventually agreed.

After arriving, the group found out that the lodge, at M. 733, was not able to accept guests for the night.

Brad Cameron, who was cutting wood nearby, testified he offered to drive the couple back to their vehicle to try to pull them out with his more powerful truck.

He described having chains on his tires to make his way through the snow to the trapped vehicle.

While trying to pull the vehicle out, Cameron's truck also got stuck as well. The trio eventually had to walk to the highway to get a ride back to the lodge, he testified.

It was then that he offered the couple his camper to sleep in.

While the Swift River Lodge was unable to accept paying guests at the time, Cameron — an employee — had been staying it one of the rooms through the cold weather.

The couple retrieved a cardboard box from their vehicle and agreed to stay the night until someone could get them out in the morning, Cameron testified.

By the next day, they were gone, he said.

Cameron told the court that while going through his trailer after the couple left, he discovered they had left the cardboard box behind.

It would later be taken by the RCMP, he said.

Cameron testified he never looked inside.

Other staff told the jury that a few days after this meeting, the couple was spotted again at the lodge, this time on a Greyhound bus heading south.

Testimonies differed on a few points, including who from the lodge tried to pull the vehicle out and whether Asp went with them on that trip back to the vehicle.

During cross-examination, Asp's lawyer, Ken Tessovitch, suggested the stranded couple actually stayed for two nights in Cameron's camper.

He pointed to Cameron's statement to the RCMP in April 2008, in which he tells police they did stay for two nights.

On the stand Wednesday, Cameron, as well as other people at the lodge, insisted Asp and her boyfriend only stayed one night.

Tessovitch also questioned Dick and Hurlbert about their first statements to police in which they said Asp appeared drunk.

Dick said Wednesday her eyes appeared glassy, but added that may have been from crying. He said it was hard to remember for sure, but that he had no reason to lie during his police statement.

Hurlbert told the court she smelled no alcohol on Asp's breath throughout the evening or while they were in the truck together.

The trial, being heard by Justice Leigh Gower, is expected to last about three months.