The triple murder trial for the man accused of killing a five-year-old Calgary boy and his grandparents is in its second day in a Calgary courtroom and family of the accused are taking the stand to testify.

Douglas Garland is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Alvin and Kathy Liknes and their grandson, Nathan O’Brien.

The three Calgarians disappeared from a southwest home in June of 2014 and Garland was charged after police conducted an exhaustive search that led them to an Airdrie acreage, where Garland lived with his parents.

The trial began on Monday and Garland’s lawyer entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.

The Crown laid out its theory about what happened for the jury saying it will show that "the three individuals were violently removed from their beds and taken to the Garland farm and killed. Their bodies burned in a large burn barrel with only tiny fragments of their bodies left for police to discover."

Prosecutors allege that Garland held a petty grudge for years over a pump patent that he did some work on

Nathan’s mother, Jennifer, was the first to take the stand.

She told the court that she and her two sons, Nathan and Max, went to the Liknes’ Parkhill home on the June 29th and that Nathan asked if he could sleepover. She agreed and later left to take her younger son back home.

When she returned to pick Nathan up the next day she found the door unlocked and the inside of the home covered in blood.

Jennifer O’Brien remained composed during her testimony and said she called her husband after she searched the home and found no one in the residence. "I said my family's been murdered and he's taken the bodies."

She later told court that she meant someone took them and that she didn't know who but said she knew in her heart they were dead.

Allen Liknes Jr., Alvin’s son, also testified and told the court that he believed his dad and Garland had a falling out in 2007 but that he was not aware of any debt his dad may have had.

On Tuesday morning, Archie Garland, Douglas’ father, testified and told the court that his son lived with him and his wife at the time of the murders and that Douglas was not working.

He said that there was a computer in the home and that only Douglas used it. He also confirmed that Douglas worked on a pump that Alvin was developing. “Alvin didn’t think Douglas worked fast enough, but Douglas did a thorough job.”

Archie Garland, 86, testified that Douglas saw a psychiatrist ‘every Monday morning’ and that his doctor’s office called the house on June 30th to ask why Douglas wasn’t at his appointment.

The Crown asked Archie if he had anything to do with the disappearance of Alvin, Kathy and Nathan and he replied, "no I did not.”

Under cross examination, Archie said that Douglas didn't have many friends and that he was not a violent person. He said he and his wife had dinner with Douglas on June 29 and that he heard him in the house the next morning at about 7:00 a.m.

Garland's mother, Doreen, 83, took the stand just before noon and said “He’s my son, I love him, I’ve always loved him but he’s an unhappy man, he's intelligent. We used to talk about books, but he wasn't the type of person who would come up to me and ask how are you doing?”

She went on to say that Douglas attended a few months of medical school at the U of A but "then he had a breakdown" and that he didn't discuss his problems with her.

Doreen said that she saw the AMBER Alert for Nathan on the news and that the whole thing "was a shock." She told her son, Douglas, about the alert and says he told her he didn't know anything about it and that he didn't want to talk about the Liknes'.

She told the court that she did not see Alvin, Kathy or Nathan at the Garland farm between June 30 and July 4, 2014.

Douglas Garland's sister, Patti, testified in the afternoon and said she was in a long-term relationship with Alvin's son and that her contact with her brother was pretty much non-existent in 2014.

She said that Douglas was unhappy about business dealings with Alvin and Allen Liknes and that he seemed to become more bitter as time passed.

Patti Garland said she also saw the AMBER Alert and recognized the photo of the truck that was released by police and said Douglas drove a truck that matched the description.

On Wednesday, the Crown will call upon police to testify in the case.

The trial is scheduled to last five weeks and the Crown is expected to call 60 witnesses to testify, including family members, police and forensic experts.

@CTVInaSidhu and @CTVJKanygin are covering the trial for CTV Calgary.