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Finally, after more than three days of deliberations, the jury has reached a decision in the case of a man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death two and a half years ago.
Brittany Gogo is live outside the John Sopinka courthouse in Hamilton with the latest.
The jury started their deliberations Tuesday morning and came back into the courtroom to re-hear some evidence in the past couple days. Friday night, they finally reached a decision.
They found Haiden Suarez Noa not guilty of second-degree murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Haiden Suarez Noa had admitted to stabbing Tania Cowell — his girlfriend and mother of his child — but said he didn’t intend to kill her.
The jury had to decide if he knew what he was doing when he stabbed Cowell eleven times — so forcefully that he cut bone and slashed through her back ribs into her heart — four of the blows in themselves were enough to kill her.
During the case — 38-year old Suarez testified he snapped during a fight with Cowell when she threatened to keep their son from him, that he already had a knife in his hands because he was about to make a sandwich, and he doesn’t remember what happened after the first few blows.
The prosecution said he was lying, that he went to get a knife after he was angry, then chased Cowell, stabbing her first in the back and then the neck and chest as she fell.
The Crown believed Suarez initially tried to cover up the crime, arranging with his mother to pick him up at the airport in Cuba, transferring money to a friend and activating a credit card.
The court heard he used his cellphone to take a picture of Cowell’s blood-soaked body and left with his infant son, checking into a hotel in Guelph.
The next day he turned himself into Guelph police.
The jury found him not guilty of second-degree murder, but guilty of manslaughter.
Cowell’s sister-in-law was too upset to speak to us on camera, but said in an email tonight: “We are extremely upset and heartbroken over this verdict of manslaughter. Our system has failed society and Tania. Our system is flawed.”
Suarez Noa will be back in court on Thursday for sentencing.
Tania Cowell’s family says they will be there to give their victim impact statements.
