Murder trial begins in Hamilton domestic violence case

In March of 2013, 36-year-old Tania Cowell was stabbed to death in her Stoney Creek apartment in front of her five-month-old son. Her son’s father, Haiden Suarez Noa has confessed to wielding the knife but says he’s not guilty of murder because he did not plan to kill Cowell.

Crown Janet Booy opened her case Thursday morning and heard from six witnesses before the end of the day.

The first witness on the stand broke down when she saw her friend Tania Cowell’s face on court screens. She told the jury Cowell was happy as a new mom and her relationship with Haiden Suarez Noa seemed fine.

Then the jury heard from two of Cowell’s neighbours at 2 Cherrywood Dr. in Stoney Creek. Both heard a scream and the sound of running and a slamming door on March 9, 2013 shortly after 11 p.m. One woman also heard a man yell “bitch”.

Suarez Noa fled to Guelph after stabbing his girlfriend, staying in a motel and then turning himself in to police the next morning with baby Bailun in a carrier. Forensic officers found blood still on Suarez Noa’s feet and blood also smeared on the baby’s face and ear.

Suarez Noa told the officer at the desk, “I killed my girlfriend. I murdered her. I’m not joking. This is not a joke. She is dead.”

The officer says Suarez Noa seemed nervous and added, “I don’t know what happened. I just lost it. She attacked me and I lost it.”

Hamilton officers were sent to check the apartment. They broke down the door and found Cowell’s body on the floor. She had been stabbed 11 times in the back, chest and throat. Four of the wounds were fatal, they pierced her aorta, carotid and pulmonary arteries as well as her jugular vein. There were bloody footprints on the floor, bloody baby wipes on the coffee table and a sharp knife in the sink that was still wet with water.

The crown told the jury to look closely during the evidence for signs that Suarez Noa knew and remembered he killed Cowell and that he intended for her to die. The jury has yet to hear arguments from the defence.