Daughter testifies in BC murder trial after father's note

The daughter of a man on trial for murder testified in a British Columbia courtroom that her father left her a troubling voice message the day her mother vanished, telling her she and her brother were going to be alone. Selina Martin, 18, gave evidence at the Kamloops trial of Vitali Stefanski, who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his ex-wife, Tatjana Stefanski.

Martin told the court that on April 13, 2024, her father sent her a Russian-language WhatsApp message in which he said her mother had made life hell. Translating the recording played for the jury, Martin said her father told her she and her younger brother should hang onto each other tight. She said he called her endearing names but was not speaking normally, and expressed a desire to see her that had not worked out.

The jury has heard that Tatjana Stefanski, 44, was found stabbed to death on April 14, 2024, a day after that message was sent. Martin, who uses her mother's maiden name, testified that on the day her mother disappeared, she missed a call from her. Her mother followed up with a text saying Martin's father was leaving. Martin later received a call from her mother's boyfriend,...