Jury sees graphic photos of victim in B.C. murder trial

KAMLOOPS — The judge in the B.C. Supreme Court murder trial of Vitali Stefanski warned jury members to prepare for graphic evidence as they were shown photos of the body of his ex-wife, found off a forest road in 2024.

Justice Bradford Smith told the jury in the second-degree murder trial that the photos were to help them decide facts like the circumstances before and after Tatjana Stefanski died, but not to cause sympathy for the Crown’s case or prejudice against the accused.

The jury also heard testimony on Wednesday from RCMP forensic investigators who photographed evidence, including Cpl. Robert Riemer, who described having to use a rope tied to a tree stump to get down the steep embankment off the side of a road to reach Tatjana Stefanski’s body.

Crown lawyer Rigel Tessmann has previously told the court that a bent and bloodied knife near the body had the DNA of both Tatjana and Vitali Stefanski and that the victim suffered 21 “sharp force wounds” to her legs, arms and hands as well as seven stab wounds to her chest and ribs that injured her heart and lungs and led to her death.