A New Brunswick man charged with killing his newborn son in January told police the baby's mother had threatened to commit suicide if he didn't get rid of the baby, a court heard Wednesday.

In a videotaped statement, which was played in the nearly empty St. Andrews courtroom, Rodney Miller said he had suggested dropping the newborn off at a hospital.

But the baby's mother, his girlfriend Sarah Russell, insisted that he kill and dispose of the baby, he said.

Miller, 27, of Moores Mills, near St. Stephen, is on trial charged with first-degree murder in the death of the infant. An RCMP investigation concluded the baby was born sometime between Jan. 5 and Jan. 22, 2009.

Russell, 19, is charged with manslaughter and being an accessory after the fact in the baby's death.

In the video statement, Miller talks about the circumstances leading up to the baby's death.

He says the baby boy was delivered in their home with his face down on the bed. At first, he says, they couldn't tell if the baby was alive.

He says Russell told him to leave the baby like that and not to clean out his airways. He says he offered to drop the baby off at the hospital, but Russell refused and said that if he didn't kill and get rid of the newborn she would commit suicide.

They argued over what to do with the baby and over how to kill him.

He says Russell told him to hurry up, that she had a lot of housework to do.

He also describes how he stabbed the baby boy in the heart, wrapped him in a teddy bear blanket, and hid the body under the corner of another house in his property that he was fixing up.

Then he went back into his house, drank a few beers, smoked a joint and tried to decide what to do with the remains so no one would find them.

Some time later, the court heard, Miller decided to remove the baby from under the house. He then took it out to nearby train tracks poured gasoline over the baby's body and set it on fire.

The RCMP called in Insp. Mark Nowlan with the Fredericton Fire Department and his dog Snickers, who is trained to sniff out accelerants such as gasoline. She discovered the spot where the baby was buried beneath the snow.

The court also heard from RCMP Const. Phillip Scribner, who was the arresting officer.

Scribner testified that Miller admitted to the crime while in the back of a police cruiser, on his way to be interrogated. Several times in the video, Scribner tells Miller that the details he was giving to him could be used in court and that he should talk to a lawyer.

However, Miller says in the video that he doesn't want a lawyer.

Crown seeks 1st-degree murder conviction

At the start of the trial Tuesday, Miller offered to plead guilty to second-degree murder, but the Crown prosecutor refused the plea, saying he believes there is enough evidence to prove the murder was premeditated.

Miller's defence lawyer, Joel Hansen, has said he doesn't dispute the fact that Miller killed the baby boy. But he maintains it was not a planned, deliberate murder.

The Crown did accept Miller's guilty plea on a second charge of disposing of the body of a child with intent to conceal the birth.

The defence doesn't plan to call any witnesses. Hansen said he believes his client's case rests on how believable the judge finds Miller.

Closing arguments are scheduled for Thursday.

A guilty verdict for either first- or second-degree murder could mean a life sentence for Miller.

Russell is scheduled is to appear at a preliminary hearing in November.