GRAPHIC WARNING: This story contains details that may disturb some readers.
EDMONTON — A trial has started in Edmonton for a man accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend about 100 times.
Silva Koshwal’s lawyer is arguing the man is not criminally responsible for the crime.
Koshwal faces charges of second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a body.
Court heard that Nadine Skow, who was 38, was found dead in a downtown apartment in August 2015.
Neighbours reported hearing screams but did not call police.
Co-workers who later went to the apartment made the discovery.
An agreed statement of facts submitted at trial said Skow’s body was face down on the floor and some of her organs had been removed. Her heart had been pinned to the wall with a butcher knife.
Police later estimated she had been stabbed 101 times all over her body.
Staff Sgt. Bill Clark said at the time that the crime scene was “probably one of the most horrific I’ve seen in my career.”
Court heard that Koshwal suffered trauma while growing up in Sudan.
“He’s seen every type of carnage one should never have to see,” testified psychologist Leslie Block.
Block also told court he believes Koshwal regularly disassociates from himself.