TORONTO – A Toronto man has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of a woman whose dismembered remains were found behind a butcher shop.
Ian Ohab had admitted he cut up Melissa Cooper’s body nearly three years ago but said she died of a drug overdose in his apartment.
He pleaded guilty to causing indignity to a body but not guilty to second-degree murder.
Jurors deliberated for roughly eight hours before returning with their decision.
Cooper’s relatives burst into tears and hugged each other on hearing the verdict. Ohab sat still and expressionless, staring straight ahead.
Prosecutors had argued Ohab lured Cooper into his home and attacked her, then cut her body into pieces and dumped some of them in the trash to cover up his crimes.
The defence, meanwhile, said there was no evidence Ohab killed Cooper.
Lawyer Philip Klumak said Ohab panicked after finding Cooper dead and, while under the influence of drugs, decided to dispose of her body.
Cooper, 30, went missing in April 2016 and court has heard some of her remains were never found.