Woman acquitted of husband’s attempted murder in northern B.C.

VANCOUVER – A woman who repeatedly slashed her husband two years ago has been acquitted of aggravated assault and attempted murder.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Elliott Myers says Crown prosecutors failed to prove Ayelech Ejigu wasn’t motivated by self defence when she attacked her husband in their Fort St. John, B.C., home on June 2, 2010.

Central to Ejigu’s defence was the issue of battered-spouse syndrome.

Myers said in his ruling that those affected by the syndrome develop fear and apprehension about their personal safety because of repeated physical and emotional abuse.

He says evidence suggested Ejigu, who is an immigrant from Ethiopia, felt alone and isolated, and her husband Yadeta Kareba had beaten her in the past and threatened to kill her days before the stabbing.

He says when Kareba yelled at his wife before the 2 attack, she may have thought he meant to “kill, attack or sexually assault her, and that she had to defend herself by killing him.”