Nearly two-and-a-half years after a Calgary woman’s death, her boyfriend is standing trial for murder.
Scott Monroe Ferguson is charged with the second-degree murder of Susan Elko, who was found stabbed to death in the couple’s Mission condo on Sept. 14, 2014.
On Monday, Crown prosecutor Jonathan Hak told a jury of seven women and five men that Elko had been stabbed 10 times in the neck with a knife she’d given Ferguson as a gift for his birthday.
Hak described their relationship as tumultuous, saying the couple argued often and broke up multiple times.
According to Hak one of the contentious points was how much money Ferguson spent on his cocaine habit, which left Elko to pay their living expenses.
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He suggested the couple drank too much, smoked too much marijuana and did too much cocaine.
The Crown Prosecutor also said Elko had planned to breakup with Ferguson for good, and had told friends she was excited to be done with him.
According to Hak, Ferguson did not take the news of the breakup well, and during an argument on the morning of Sept. 14, 2014, the accused stabbed Elko to death.
The jury heard Ferguson called his boss after he killed Elko, to tell him he was coming in to return the company truck, because he had just killed his girlfriend. Hak said Ferguson told his boss he was sorry and was planning to turn himself in.
The Crown told court the accused walked to a 7-Eleven, called 911 and told the operator that he’d killed his girlfriend.
An excerpt from that 911 call was played in court Monday morning
“I stabbed my girlfriend to death. I killed her and I want to be picked up by police.”
Hak told the jury it was a gruesome scene and that her injuries were horrific.
Elko worked at the Black Cat Lounge and Grill in downtown Calgary. Both coworkers and her regular customers knew her as “Black Cat Sue.”
The trial is scheduled for two weeks.
The judge opened with a reminder that Ferguson is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
With files from Erika Tucker and David Boushy
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