The ex-husband of Tatjana Stefanski, who is accused of stabbing her to death in rural British Columbia in 2024, has been found guilty of second-degree murder.
The jury deliberated for a few hours Thursday night and Friday morning before coming back with a verdict.
“Now it’s time to heal and start a brand new life,” Jason Gaudreault, Tatjana’s partner, told Global News.
“I was pretty confident, and everything, just to be able to hear it, just felt really good. I was really happy with the outcome.”
Vitali Stefanski told the jury on Thursday that his ex-wife’s death was “like a suicide” and that the jury should believe he’s not guilty.
Stefanski had been represented by a lawyer for much of the trial, but jurors were told last week he would be representing himself, including for closing arguments.
The jury later began deliberating after receiving instructions from Justice Bradford Smith.
“I felt that the jury was going to serve justice in this case, and they did, and I was hugely relieved, hugely relieved,” family friend Jen de Bourcier said.
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Tatjana Stefanski’s body was found with numerous stab wounds off a rural forest service road near Lumby, B.C., in April 2024.
The trial heard that a bent and bloodied knife found nearby had the DNA of both Tatjana and Vitali Stefanski, while police testified that the accused emerged shoeless from the forest and confessed to the killing before gesturing in the direction of the body.
“I never said that,” Stefanski said on Thursday.
“That statement does not exist, so that does not exist, and he has no proof that it does exist,” he said, referring to an RCMP officer’s testimony.
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Stefanski had testified at the trial that his ex-wife stabbed herself in his car and he denied dumping her body, instead saying she slipped from his grasp by the road.
“For me, it’s like a suicide,” he told the jury on Thursday.
The court heard that Tatjana Stefanski was stabbed in the chest seven times and had “multiple sharp-force injuries” to her arms and legs, which were considered defensive wounds.
A second-degree murder conviction carries with it an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.
“We are very fortunate to be here and actually have a close and a conviction,” Gaudreault said.
“There’s so many out there that just have never gotten to this point, and you know our hearts go out to them.
Stefanski will appear in court next on July 13.
-with files from The Canadian Press
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