In a chilling account, Shelly Charlebois testified how she and her daughter tried to hide in a locked bathroom as her estranged husband broke through the door with an axe.

“I could hear Kory entering the kitchen and then him stomping...and then the blade of the axe came through the bathroom door,” she said Monday in Supreme Court.

The mother of three was testifying in the case against her former common-law partner, Kory McFarlen, who is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, break and enter, and unlawful confinement. He has pleaded not guilty to all four charges.

McFarlen, 39, looked away from Charlebois as she broke into tears while recounting the events of Sept. 6, 2007. That morning she had taken her two older children to school and then returned home to 919 Hemlock St. along with her four-year-old daughter.

Charlebois was taking a bath after her morning workout when the doorbell rang. When she got to the door, she could see a man running down the alley, so she put on her shoes and went outside to see who it was.

When Charlebois saw the little red car parked a few doors away, she knew it was McFarlen who had been living in Alberta. The two had lived together in Campbell River for 14 years and had three children before permanently separating in 2004.

But earlier in July 2007, McFarlen was not allowed to see his children and was prevented, by court order, from seeing Charlebois.

The mother ran back into the house, locked and dead-bolted the door, and then called 911. As she spoke with the emergency operator, the phone went dead.

Charlebois then grabbed her cell phone and called again while locked in the bathroom with her daughter. She was able to tell the operator that her ex-partner was trying to break into their house when the head of the axe came through the door.

Seconds later, she testified, McFarlen broke through the door.

He was breathing heavily, appeared angry and there was spittle in his beard.

Her daughter was crying and screaming at her father to leave them alone, and then Charlebois asked McFarlen what he intended to do.

“Do you think you can f--- with me? I’m going to f--- with you. I’m going to kill you,” said Charlebois, recounting McFarlen’s words.

She said McFarlen tossed the cell phone into the bathtub, grabbed her by the throat and dragged her into the kitchen while still clutching the splitting maul.

Charlebois told the court how she ran at McFarlen, fought with him and then managed to make it out the side door with her daughter.

However, they couldn’t go any further.

Charlebois said that McFarlen stood on the stairs laughing, telling them he had locked the gate, and then ordered them both back inside.

She said he began counting to three and struck her twice in the left temple with the handle of the maul.

“He didn’t even flinch. He had a sick smile on his face the whole time...and I was screaming,” she said through her tears.

The family dog tried to bite McFarlen, but he kicked it away she said as they went back into the kitchen. She gouged at his eyes which further enraged him.

He swung the maul, but it missed her and hit a wall. McFarlen then pinned her downed and vowed, once again, to kill her.

Charlebois testified she was flailing on the ground while McFarlen punched her five times in the face. He then pinned one of her arms and put his knee and all his weight on her throat.

Within seconds she had lost consciousness, but awoke a few moments later to her daughter’s cries.

“Please mommy, please wake up, the police are here,” Charlebois recalled her daughter saying.

McFarlen was arrested in his vehicle a short distance away in Campbellton. He’s been held in custody since the incident and underwent a psychological exam last year which found him mentally fit to stand trial.

According to Crown prosecutor David Fitzsimmons, the key issue for Justice Brian Joyce – the case is being heard without a jury – will be to decide which charge applies.

“The real issue is whether or not not this is an attempted murder and whether the aggravated assault is properly characterized,” Fitzsimmons told the court.

Defence counsel Doug Marion believes that McFarlen was over-charged by the Crown. The case is expected to wrap up by Friday.