A teenager revealed in court that her father allegedly warned she and her younger brother they were 'going to be alone' in a chilling voice message sent shortly before their mother was found stabbed to death near a remote forest road in Canada.
Selina Martin testified Wednesday at the murder trial of her father, Vitali Stefanski, who is accused of killing his ex-wife Tatjana Stefanski in British Columbia in April 2024.
Martin, 18, told jurors her father sent her a WhatsApp voice message in Russian on the morning her mother disappeared.
In the message, Stefanski allegedly told the siblings: 'You're going to be alone' and should 'hang onto each other tight.'
'Then he also brought up how my mother made life hell and that I would soon come to realize that in the future,' Martin testified, according to CTV News.
Tatjana, 44, was found stabbed to death near a forest road close to Mabel Lake on April 14, 2024, one day after the message was sent.
Prosecutors alleged Stefanski killed his ex-wife before abandoning his black Audi on a remote logging road and emerging shoeless from nearby woods, where police say he confessed to the killing.
According to previous testimony cited by Castanet, Stefanski allegedly told officers: 'That is my car - I am the reason you're here.'
Vitali Stefanski (right) is on trial in British Columbia accused of murdering his ex-wife, Tatjana Stefanski (left), after prosecutors claim he confessed to police near the remote forest road where her body was found
The couple’s daughter Selina Martin (left) testified that her father sent her a chilling voice message warning she and her younger brother were ‘going to be alone’ shortly before their mother was found stabbed to death.
When police asked where Tatjana was, prosecutors claim he replied: 'Yes, she is dead. Yes, I have killed her.'
Stefanski has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.
Jurors heard Tatjana suffered 21 sharp force wounds to her arms, legs and hands, along with seven stab wounds to her chest and ribs that fatally injured her heart and lungs, according to Castanet.
Prosecutors said the wounds to her hands and arms were consistent with defensive injuries.
A bent, bloody knife carrying DNA from both Tatjana and Stefanski was allegedly found near the body.
Martin now uses her mother's maiden name instead of Stefanski and testified that her relationship with her father became increasingly strained after her parents divorced in 2021.
'He wasn't very happy with my mother, so there would be a lot of name-calling and derogatory terms, which I didn't appreciate,' she said.
By early 2024, Martin testified she was 'almost never' speaking to her father.
She told the court she woke up on April 13, 2024, to a text message from her mother saying Stefanski was 'leaving' and that she should message him if she wanted to say goodbye.
Prosecutors allege Vitali Stefanski emerged shoeless from nearby woods and told officers: 'I am the reason you're here' before admitting to killing Tatjana
Tatjana, 44, was found stabbed to death near Mabel Lake in April 2024, one day after prosecutors say her ex-husband sent their children a chilling message warning they would soon be 'alone'
Ten minutes later, she received the disturbing voice message the court heard.
According to earlier testimony, Tatjana was last seen walking across the driveway of her Lumby home toward her ex-husband before the pair drove away in a black vehicle captured on grainy surveillance footage.
Jurors also heard blood was later discovered on the driver, passenger and back seats of Stefanski's abandoned Audi.
The court also heard that Martin's younger brother was handed a suitcase by Stefanski before the disappearance containing his passport, valuables and personal belongings.
Another witness testified Wednesday that she spotted the abandoned Audi parked deep along a poorly maintained forest road near Mabel Lake the day before Tatjana's body was discovered.
The trial is continuing in British Columbia.