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Maia Soukonnik, 60, died as the result of a stab wound on November 13th, 2008.

Soukonnik was Edmonton's twenty-ninth homicide victim of the year.

Rostislav Soukonnik, 20, was charged with second-degree murder.

Emergency medical staff were called to a complex at 9023 184 Street at about 4:20 a.m. November 13th, 2008 after receiving a report there was a deceased female inside a second-floor suite.

Homicide detectives were notified and investigators believed the body to be that of a 60-year-old woman who lived in the top-floor apartment.

Police said they were familiar with the address, a location known to them for several family-related disturbances they've dealt with in the past.

It was later revealed the 911 call was made by a 20-year-old who also lived in the apartment.

The death was initially called suspicious until officers had a closer examination of the crime scene.

Homicide detectives Dennis Storey and Bill Clark could be seen conferring with forensics officers (who now wear full uniforms as part of a recent initiative to increase police visibility on the streets).

Yellow crime-scene tape enclosed a samurai sword, nearly half-a-metre in length with its blade bent and twisted, seen lying on the pavement in front of the building.

A spokesman said the sword had been thrown from a second-floor window where a plaid blanket served as a curtain. However, no comment was offered on whether the sword was related to the death.

On November 14th police announced they had laid a charge of second-degree murder against a 20-year-old man in connection with the death.

Police delayed identifying the victim and the accused as they were attempting to notify next of kin who lived out of the country.

The woman's body had been removed from the suite the previous evening, and forensics staff remained at the home overnight, returning the next morning.

Neighbours said the west-end suite was occupied by a mother and her son. One person described the young man police questioned as "troubled."

"He'd take boards out of the trash and just smash them to pieces," the neighbour said. "Another time, he was punching a light post for hours."

One the night of the woman's death, the neighbour had heard a loud banging sound.

"I don't know what's going on here," he said. "It's all kind of strange."

Son charged

With next of kin now notified, police said an autopsy found that 60-year-old Maia Soukonnik had died as the result of a stab wound, and that 20-year-old Rostislav Soukonnik had been charged with second-degree murder.

Police confirmed the two were mother and son.

Rostislav Soukonnik, seen above in a Facebook image, was scheduled to appear in court on November 19th, 2008.

On November 19th, Rostislav Soukonnik did not appear in provincial court. Instead, a Crown prosecutor requested that a forensic psychologist examine him.

A judge ordered the assessment and Soukonnik's next court date was set for November 21st, 2008.

Not much was known about Maia Soukonnik and police said the mother and son had no immediate family in Canada. Next of kin had to be notified in the Ukraine.

Neighbours did not know the woman well, other than to say 'Hi.' She stayed inside most of the time and seemed to speak little or no English.

But it was a different matter when it came to Rostislav, also known as Ross – read more »

The tenant who lived below the Soukonnik's suite said she arguing coming from there every since she had moved in three years ago.

"There was a lot of fighting usually at night time ... usually around ten or eleven o'clock I would hear arguing and pounding on the floor," Destiny Visscher told CBC Edmonton, adding she was glad to be moving out of the complex.

A second-floor tenant who shared a living room wall with the Soukonnik's knew the son all too well.

Lisa Lambert said Rostislav often boasted about being a martial arts expert.

"He was always outside like running around. He would put wood – like a piece of wood on between those two things and he would chop it with his hands," she said.

"And was he successful in that?" CTV Edmonton's David Ewasuk asked.

"Yeah he was actually ... he was really strong."

Speaking to Global Edmonton, Lambert spoke of her fear of the man.

"I was really scared of him ... like I had nightmares about him. I always thought about – every time I was home alone I thought he was going to come in and try and do something to us.

"I really wasn't that schocked actually – he's really weird," Lambert said after hearing of the murder.

"I knew that something like that would happen eventually.

"He would like punch the side of the building ... you could hear him yelling a lot," Lambert told the Edmonton Sun. "You could hear him speaking a different language and yelling.

"He came inside my apartment once before and he told me that he could read spirits and he said that there was a spirit inside my house," she said.

Lambert recalled one incident in July that resulted in Rostislav being taken away by the police. When he returned, she said, he told her he had been in a psychiatric ward.

"He always talked about martial arts and kung fu," she said.

CTV Edmonton followed that angle and reported that in October Rostislav asked to be enrolled at a nearby Tae Kwon Do dojang, telling them he'd already been learning martial arts on the internet.

"He's been coming just about every day for the last three weeks now," said the instructor who asked not to be named.

"He was very interested in doing Tae Kwon Do. He wanted to learn how to break bricks, which is alright, but the funny thing was he wanted to do learn how to break bricks with his head," he said.

The instructor said advised Rostislav against doing that.

Staff at the dojang said Rostislav's mother came in the week before her death, excited that her son had enrolled. She even bought him protective pads and head gear the instructor was shown looking for.

"I was very shocked to hear this happened," the instructor said of the woman's death.

A friend of Rostislav's told the Edmonton Journal he graduated with the man from Jasper Place High School in 2005. He said his friend took up martial arts in high school to help him beef up.

"Back in Grade 9, he was the one who got bullied a lot. We kept him out of trouble," said the friend, asking his name not be published.

He added that Rostislav was a good person who tried so hard to fit in that he ended up in the wrong crowd, one that fought and used drugs.

When he last saw the man three months before, he said he was still living with his mother, did not have a job and was training for a martial arts tournament.

Preliminary hearing

On August 31st, 2009 a preliminary hearing began for Rostislav Soukonnik.

The 21-year-old man faced second-degree murder charges in connection with the death of 60-year-old Maia Soukonnik.

A publication ban prevented the reporting of evidence heard during the hearing.

The Crown was expected to call approximately 20 witnesses, including assistant medical examiner Bernard Bannach.

Autopsy results released earlier indicated the elder Soukonnik died as the result of a stab wound.

The preliminary hearing, held to determine whether or not sufficient evidence was present to order a trial, was set to run one week.

CTV Edmonton's coverage of Soukonnik's murder can be seen here.

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deadmonton 2008 - maia soukonnik