TheStar.com - News - Self-defence cited in slaying of sister
Boiled head, hand found in siblings' unit, court hears
Jim Wilkes
Staff Reporter
George Arsoniadis killed his sister in self-defence before her head was boiled and her body butchered, a court has heard.
Arsoniadis, 30, is facing a second-degree murder charge in Milton court in the July 2005 slaying of his sister Helen, 31.
A few pieces of the woman's body were found in the Oakville penthouse she shared with her brother, including flesh wrapped in plastic and her skull in a garbage bag in the freezer.
In his opening address to the jury yesterday, defence lawyer Paul O'Marra said Arsoniadis would admit he killed his sister "during a violent attack in which he defended himself." He said upcoming witnesses would testify the woman was "predisposed to aggression and violence."
O'Marra and Crown counsel Andrew Goodman painted very different pictures of the woman slain on July 3, 2005.
"Helen was impulsive, unpredictable and violent over the most trivial matters" and was often in a "state of rage" aimed at her brother, O'Marra said.
Goodman told jurors the woman had only "minor difficult personality issues." He said evidence will show the crime was uncovered after eight days when neighbours complained of a "repugnant odour" from the Old Mill Rd. condominium the siblings rented.
Arsoniadis went to work at the Royal Bank in the days after the slaying and "disposed and destroyed most of Helen Arsoniadis' body," Goodman said.
In addition to the skull, Goodman said police recovered bones, organs and a hand from the apartment. Other items were retrieved from a landfill, but most of the body was never found.
Arsoniadis sat impassively in the prisoner's dock as Goodman warned the jury of eight women and four men they will see graphic images, including video of a coroner unwrapping a garbage bag and removing the woman's skull.
There was so little left of her the coroner was unable to determine a cause of death. Boiling the head destroyed any trace of DNA in the skull, Goodman explained.
He said surveillance images from stores around Oakville show Arsoniadis buying a hacksaw, a rotary saw, garbage bags and cleaning supplies in the hours and days after the slaying.
Const. Jeff Springstead, the first Halton police officer on the scene, testified he thought the source of the putrid odour was a kitchen sink full of brown oily liquid that smelled like "decaying flesh." Black flecks in the bathtub made him suspect the worst, he said.
"I believed something bad had happened in that apartment," he said.
"I equated that black flecking with death."
Boiled head, hand found in siblings' unit, court hears
Jim Wilkes
Staff Reporter
George Arsoniadis killed his sister in self-defence before her head was boiled and her body butchered, a court has heard.
Arsoniadis, 30, is facing a second-degree murder charge in Milton court in the July 2005 slaying of his sister Helen, 31.
A few pieces of the woman's body were found in the Oakville penthouse she shared with her brother, including flesh wrapped in plastic and her skull in a garbage bag in the freezer.
In his opening address to the jury yesterday, defence lawyer Paul O'Marra said Arsoniadis would admit he killed his sister "during a violent attack in which he defended himself." He said upcoming witnesses would testify the woman was "predisposed to aggression and violence."
O'Marra and Crown counsel Andrew Goodman painted very different pictures of the woman slain on July 3, 2005.
"Helen was impulsive, unpredictable and violent over the most trivial matters" and was often in a "state of rage" aimed at her brother, O'Marra said.
Goodman told jurors the woman had only "minor difficult personality issues." He said evidence will show the crime was uncovered after eight days when neighbours complained of a "repugnant odour" from the Old Mill Rd. condominium the siblings rented.
Arsoniadis went to work at the Royal Bank in the days after the slaying and "disposed and destroyed most of Helen Arsoniadis' body," Goodman said.
In addition to the skull, Goodman said police recovered bones, organs and a hand from the apartment. Other items were retrieved from a landfill, but most of the body was never found.
Arsoniadis sat impassively in the prisoner's dock as Goodman warned the jury of eight women and four men they will see graphic images, including video of a coroner unwrapping a garbage bag and removing the woman's skull.
There was so little left of her the coroner was unable to determine a cause of death. Boiling the head destroyed any trace of DNA in the skull, Goodman explained.
He said surveillance images from stores around Oakville show Arsoniadis buying a hacksaw, a rotary saw, garbage bags and cleaning supplies in the hours and days after the slaying.
Const. Jeff Springstead, the first Halton police officer on the scene, testified he thought the source of the putrid odour was a kitchen sink full of brown oily liquid that smelled like "decaying flesh." Black flecks in the bathtub made him suspect the worst, he said.
"I believed something bad had happened in that apartment," he said.
"I equated that black flecking with death."
