Guilty verdict for man accused in grisly stabbing of Toronto hotel worker

TORONTO – A man accused in the grisly stabbing death of a Toronto hotel worker nearly three years ago has been found guilty of first-degree murder.

Adonay Zekarias had pleaded not guilty in the death of 55-year-old Nighisti Semret.

READ MORE: Stabbing of hotel worker was ‘planned and deliberate murder,’ prosecutor says

Crown prosecutors had told the jury hearing the case that Semret was attacked in a laneway by a man who stabbed her seven times.

The jury heard that Semret, a mother of three, fought for her life – the blood of her attacker was found under her fingernails – but died of her wounds in hospital less than an hour after the stabbing.

The Crown said Semret and Zekarias knew each other – they were both refugees from the North African country of Eritrea, had once lived in the same refugee shelter, and went to English lessons together for a time.

Crown lawyers were unable, however, to provide a motive for the killing.