Addict dismembered Toronto woman´s body as his `only way´ to escape her overdose death, defence argues at close of trial
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

Ian Albert Ohab was only thinking about himself when he decided to dismember the body of Melissa Cooper in his apartment — but he did not kill her, said Ohab’s defence lawyer Philip Klumak in his closing address to the jury at a second-degree murder trial in Toronto. “If you found someone dead of an overdose in your apartment, what would you do? Chances are you wouldn’t dismember the body and disassociate completely from that person’s existence,� Klumak said Monday, urging the jury to consider Ohab’s history of drug addiction and the overdose death of his partner in the same apartment three months prior. “How can you say that it is unreasonable for a heroin addict, after losing his spouse, going through what he did after that, to come up with what he sees as the only way to remove himself from the situation. It was not an unreasonable situation for him.� Ohab, 41, denies murdering Cooper, 30, but has admitted to a charge of indignity to a dead body. While testifying in his defence, Ohab graphically described how he disposed of Cooper’s body three years ago.Klumak said the Crown’s evidence — including traces of blood found in the bathroom of frequent intravenous drug users and the borrowing of a small amount of bleach — is purely circumstantial and cannot be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. He argues Cooper died of an overdose. Crown prosecutor Bev Richards said it remains a mystery how Cooper died — a useful blood sample could not be taken to determine if she died of an overdose and some of Cooper’s remains have never been recovered. Read more:Accused killer describes dismembering woman in his Toronto apartment, testifies he was a ‘gracious host’Life at 220 Oak St., one of TCHC’s most troubled addresses, takes centre stage at dismemberment-murder trialAccused killer says ‘perfect storm’ led him to dismember body in his Toronto apartment“ ...