Warning: There are details in this story some readers will find disturbing.
A jury is now deliberating whether a Sudbury woman is guilty of stabbing a Sudbury senior to death almost four years ago.
The jury began its work after Superior Court Justice Dan Cornell finished his charge to them on Tuesday.
Felicity Altiman, 42, is charged with second-degree murder in the vicious killing of Robert (Bob) Keskinen in his International Hotel building apartment early on Dec. 25, 2020.
A cousin and the building’s property manager found Keskinen, 75, in the apartment on Dec. 26, 2020.
He had been stabbed 103 times and his scrotum had been cut away and stuffed down his throat along with some pieces of food.
The jury heard that blood and DNA evidence linked Altiman to the murder. She had also left a party at the International the night Keskinen was killed and returned with some of his clothing, his boots and beer.
However, her lawyer, Stephen Hinkson, agreed there is no question Altiman stole the items from Keskinen’s apartment, but she did not kill him. Hinkson said Keskinen was already dead when she got there and should have called the police, but she didn’t.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury: Felicity Altiman is guilty of theft, maybe bad judgment,” he said. “But, she is not guilty of murder.”
In her closing submissions, assistant Crown attorney Kaely Whillans said Altiman went to Keskinen’s apartment to steal from him – something she had done before – but it didn’t go as planned.
Whillans said Altiman “had the opportunity, the knowledge and the ability to steal from Mr. Keskinen. It just wasn’t as easy on this occasion as it was in the past …
“Felicity Altiman brutally, senselessly and callously stabbed Mr. Keskinen over 100 times before degrading him by skinning his scrotum. Guilty is the only logical conclusion.”
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