Suarez Noa murder trial day 2

A caution some of the images and details in this story are graphic.

Tania Cowell was stabbed to death by her boyfriend Haiden Suarez Noa in her Stoney Creek apartment in March of 2013; their five-month-old son was nearby. Noa has admitted to killing Cowell but says he just snapped and did not intend for her to die.

Today the jury saw pictures of the 11 knife wounds on Cowell’s body and they heard she died within minutes.

The first witness this morning was a friend of Haiden Suarez Noa’s. Both are from Cuba but met here and Suarez Noa helped his friend get a job at an auto parts maker in Guelph before they became roommates.

After baby Bailun was born, Suarez Noa complained that Cowell had issues. The friend offered that it was probably because she was a first time mom. “I don’t remember seeing them argue,” he told the court.

The jury saw text messages between the couple, much of it Cowell berating Suarez Noa for not helping enough with housework. The fight went on for 27 hours before Cowell texted: ‘baby wants daddy home’.

Suarez Noa had spent the previous night with his friend in Guelph, but he went to Stoney Creek after that message. Hours later, Tania Cowell was dead.

A forensic pathologist testified today that several of her stab wounds would have been fatal, including a thrust through her back that pierced her heart and a stab through her neck that severed her carotid artery and jugular vein.

The pathologist noted that people attacked with a knife typically try to protect themselves, but Cowell had no injuries to her hands or arms. She was still alive during the attack, but would have died within minutes.

A crime scene officer showed the jury a long knife that had been found in the kitchen sink, partially cleaned but still stained with Tania Cowell’s blood and he noted that the blade is bent.

Suarez Noa drove to Guelph with the baby after Cowell was dead. He stayed in a motel and turned himself into Guelph police the next day, he still had blood on his feet, and the baby still had his mother’s blood on his cheek.

The trial resumes on Tuesday.