WARNING: this article contains content related to a domestic violence murder trial which may be distressing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised. If you or someone you know has been harmed by domestic violence (gender-based violence), contact Archway Society for Domestic Peace at 250-542-1122 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
Day two of the trial of Vitali Stefanski, accused of murdering ex-wife Tatjana Stefanski, has begun in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops, with the Crown painting a picture of a grisly scene on a dirt logging road outside Lumby discovered on April 14, 2024, and saying Vitali admitted to police that he killed Tatjana.
Crown prosecutor Rigel Tessmann made his opening remarks in the jury trial Tuesday, May 26. Vitali is accused of second-degree murder in the death of 44-year-old Tatjana, who was last seen on April 13, 2024, at her Lumby home off Highway 6.
Tatjana had been reported missing after Vitali had been seen at the driveway of her home driving a black Audi car. The next day, as police were having Vitali’s vehicle towed from a remote logging road near Mabel Lake, Vitali emerged shoeless from the woods and flagged down the pair of RCMP officers accompanying the tow truck, Tessmann said.
“The man’s first words were, ‘That is my car. I am the reason you are here,’” Tessmann said.
Police asked the man if he was Vitali Stefanski and where his ex-wife was, to which the man replied: “‘Yes, she is dead. Yes, I have killed her,’” Tessmann continued.
Tatjana’s body was found halfway down an embankment around the 19 kilometre mark of Mabel Lake Road, about six kilometres from where Vitali had emerged from the forest, Tessmann said.
The Crown prosecutor told jurors they will be informed by a pathologist in the coming days that Tatjana suffered 21 sharp-force wounds, and seven stab wounds to her chest, which inflicted fatal damage to her heart and lungs.
Tessmann said a bloody knife was found nearby the crime scene which has been DNA tested, and contained the DNA of two people: Tatjana and Vitali.
Tessmann said Tatjana had been last seen walking on her driveway toward’s Vitali’s car. Police later found the vehicle with blood in the interior, and the blood was confirmed by DNA testing to be Tatjana’s.
Tatjana and Vitali shared two children, who were nine and 16 at the time of Tatjana’s death. Tessmann said the older child, a daughter, received a voicemail from her father around 8 a.m. April 13. He told her that she and her brother “were alone in the world now.”
Security footage will show jurors two figures getting into an Audi before the vehicle leaves the property heading towards Lumby, Tessmann said.
The Crown’s evidence included an initial interview between police investigators and Tatjana’s younger child. The court heard the Crown’s case will take about two and a half weeks.
The trial was moved to Kamloops from Vernon. It is expected to last about five weeks.
Day two of the trial is set to resume at 2 p.m.