Local

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Trial begins in case of husband killing wife

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 02/20/2013 1:00 AM

IT was a stunning end to a 36-year marriage: A husband bashed his wife at least 57 times in the head with a hammer, then calmly sat on the couch as she lay dying.

Now a Winnipeg jury must decide what possessed Miloslav Kapsik to commit such a horrific act.

Kapsik, 63, began his trial Tuesday by pleading not guilty to second-degree murder. He is seeking to be found not criminally responsible on the grounds he was suffering from a major mental illness and couldn't control, or appreciate, his violent actions. If successful, he would not go to prison but would instead be placed under the care of medical officials to determine his fate.

Ludmila Kapsik, 59, was found dead inside the couple's Jefferson Avenue apartment in March 2010.

Crown attorney Jennifer Mann told jurors in her opening statement Kapsik committed a brutal, unprovoked attack against his wife. The couple had been watching a hockey game on television when Kapsik suddenly got up, grabbed a hammer from the storage room and began hitting the victim from behind.

"You'll hear him describe she was crawling away during this attack and he hit her many times," Mann said of a police interview Kapsik later gave.

After she was dead, Kapsik cleaned the blood off his hands and face, changed his clothes and sat on the couch for nearly an hour before calling 911 to report "I hurt my wife, send the police."

Mann said Kapsik appeared to be "calm, responsive to questions and coherent" throughout his dealings with police. She encouraged jurors to listen closely to evidence about his state of mind at the time of the incident. The Crown will also play a 911 recording of Kapsik's conversation with an emergency operator.

Kapsik sat stone-faced in the prisoner's box with his arms folded Tuesday as Mann went through the facts of the killing, which are not in dispute.

Defence lawyer Greg Brodsky is expected to call medical evidence about his client later in the trial, which is set to last four weeks.

The Kapsiks had moved to Canada from the Czech Republic and had no children, court was told. There was also no prior history of domestic violence.

www.mikeoncrime.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 20, 2013 0

Fact Check

Have you found an error, or know of something we’ve missed in one of our stories? Please use the form below and let us know.

* Required

In which story did you find the error? *
Please post the headline of the story or the title of the video with the error.
What was the error? *
Please post exactly what was wrong with the story.
What should we have written?
Please indicate your source for the correct information.
Who else should we interview to improve this story?
Please include any contact information you may have.
Can we contact you in the future for advice on stories about this topic?
Yes

No
First Name: *
Last Name: *
E–mail Address: *
This will only be used to contact you if we have a question about your submission, it will not be used to identify you or be published.
Phone: *
This will only be used to contact you if we have a question about your submission, it will not be used to identify you or be published.
Colour:
Are you blue? If you can see this, leave it blank and get some CSS support.
Enter the words that you see: * This is to prevent our forms from being filled out automatically.
You have failed to correctly identify the words in the box above. Please try again.