‘Going to be alone’: Daughter tells of B.C. murder suspect’s message as mom vanished

Martin did not look at her father as he watched her in court, even as she walked past the Plexiglass defendant’s box.

Vitali Stefanski has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his ex-wife.

The court has heard that Martin lived with her mother, brother, Tatjana Stefanski’s boyfriend Jason Gaudreault, and his son, in the village of Lumby, about 25 kilometres east of Vernon.

Martin told the court on Wednesday that on the day of the disappearance, she had missed a call from her mother, who texted her saying her father was “leaving.”

She said she later got a call from Gaudreault, who told her that both her parents had disappeared.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” she said. “I didn’t think she would willingly do that. It was very out of character.”

Martin said that after she hung up with Gaudreault, she called police.

Crown lawyer Rigel Tessmann told the court Tuesday that Tatjana Stefanski’s body was located six kilometres from where Vitali Stefanski’s abandoned black Audi was found on a forest road. A bent and bloodied knife that carried both their DNA was found near the body, Tessmann said.

Tessmann told the jury Vitali Stefanski emerged shoeless from the forest and admitted to police that he had killed his ex-wife.

He said evidence would show Tatjana Stefanski 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.

The defence has not yet told the jury its theory of events.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2026.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

‘Going to be alone’: Daughter tells of B.C. murder suspect’s message as mom vanished

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