Defence lawyer Stuart Konyer said Gebere “went wild” with the knife — Kassa was stabbed and slashed 53 times in the face, neck, chest and arms — after she provoked him to do so and should be convicted only of manslaughter.
Kassa, Konyer argued, was angry that Gebere had reported her lies as a refugee claimant.
Prosecutor Tim Wightman argued that Kassa instead told Gebere he wouldn’t see his daughter again and asked him to leave, leading to the frenzied knife attack.
“He stabbed her so many times the pathologist had a hard time deciphering among wounds,” said Wightman. “He stabbed her so hard that he fractured her skull. She tried to defend herself but he held her down and continued to push the knife into her,” said Wightman, who argued Gebere resented Kassa’s independence from him after more than a year in abused women’s shelters.
When she stopped moving, Wightman argued, a rational Gebere threw the knife down, picked up a towel and wiped the blood off his hands before calling 911 and telling the operator what he had done.
“His daughter saw this. We know she saw it because you can hear her crying on that 911 tape,” said Wightman, adding Gebere wanted access to the child and was mad Kassa wouldn’t live with him.
Konyer argued the jury couldn’t believe anything Kassa told her friends or family about being an abused woman. Kassa was a welfare cheat who manipulated the system to secure priority housing by claiming to be abused, Konyer argued.
Gebere was depressed and suicidal about his situation with Kassa before the killing, Konyer argued.
While both lawyers agreed that Gebere, who is now 38, committed a crime, a jury must decide whether Gebere is guilty of second-degree murder or manslaughter. The jury was expected to begin deliberations Tuesday.
Source: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Kille ... juMez.dpuf
