Haiden Suarez-Noa testifies

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The trial of a man accused of second degree murder in the death of his girlfriend continued in a Hamilton court room today. 38-year old Haiden Suarez-Noa took the stand in his own defense. He talked about his childhood in Cuba, and his life leading up to the time he met Tania Cowell, about 2 years before she was killed.

In a police interview the day after she died, Suarez-Noa admitted he stabbed Tania Cowell to death, but he did not explain why. His lawyer says Suarez-Noa will explain his actions to the jury, but that hasn’t happened yet.

So far we’ve learned that Suarez-Noa grew up a happy, only child in Cuba, he studied computers, was married and had a son. But his marriage ended when his wife had an affair. Another child was born in a later relationship just before Suarez-Noa moved to Canada in 2009 but he has never met that daughter.

Suarez-Noa and Tania Cowell had a 5 month old son together when she was killed. Bailun is now 3 and growing up with Cowell’s brother’s family.

We heard that Suarez-Noa and Cowell met on the dating site Plenty of Fish, and their relationship developed. After a few months, he was meeting her friends and family.

Suarez-Noa seemed to get choked up a couple of times as he was recounting the first days of his and Cowell’s relationship, but Cowell’s family didn’t seem to buy his sincerity. There were a lot of tears in the body of the court.

This may have been the most difficult day for family and friends, as they listened to the man who killed Tania Cowell talk for hours about his past, and the promising start to their relationship, including how he met her family.

Suarez-Noa will continue to tell his side of the story when court resumes tomorrow morning.