Michelle Novak couldn't breathe or scream when her boyfriend sat on top of her, squeezed her throat with both his hands and choked her until she was unconscious, the Central Saanich woman testified yesterday in sa国际传媒 Supreme Court.
Kevin Lewis is on trial for the attempted murder of Novak, along with break and enter, aggravated assault, uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm and criminal harassment.
The offences are alleged to have taken place at Novak's townhouse on Aug. 24, 2008. "He was sitting on top of me saying, 'Die bitch. Die,' " said the tanned, athletic woman, her back turned to Lewis.
"I tried to grab his neck and shirt. But I felt like I was put out."
When Novak regained consciousness, Lewis had left.
"It was very dark. I thought, 'I'm dead,' " said Novak.
But she managed to push the garage door open, crawl outside and collapse in the arms of a neighbour.
Novak told the court she met Lewis on the dating website plentyoffish.com in June 2008 and dated him for about two months. She knew he had a criminal record and she met with his parole officer. By mid-August, Novak had become afraid of Lewis and was worried he was stalking her.
When she came home on the weekend of Aug. 16, Novak found Lewis in her house, sitting on the edge of her bed, drinking vodka. He had gone through her phone messages and looked at her computer, Novak testified.
She asked him to leave. He told her he was sorry, said Novak. When he reached out to touch her, she pushed him away.
"The next thing I know, he had me in a chokehold ... I was scared. He said, 'Don't scream. None of your neighbours can hear. They won't help you,' " Novak testified.
Lewis let her go and left, said Novak. She didn't call police because she'd had trouble with an ex-boyfriend and was afraid she'd be kicked out of her townhouse.
On Aug. 23, Lewis showed up at her patio door. They spent some time together, then Novak drove him to a bus stop. "I felt safe he was going downtown," said Novak.
But an hour or two later, he returned.
"He scared the crap out of me. He had a look that kind of reminds me of Charles Manson."
When Lewis left, Novak called his parole officer saying she was afraid. Then Novak texted Lewis to let him know what she'd done.
About 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 24, Lewis, dressed all in black, was waiting for Novak when she came through the garage door into the house.
"He grabbed me by the hair and said, 'I told you I would kill you if you told anybody,' " Novak testified.
She started screaming and tried to pull away, said Novak. Lewis told her to stop screaming and pulled out clumps of her hair. Her shirt came off during the struggle.
"I remember thinking, 'Where are my neighbours? There's nobody here to help me.' "
"What did you think was going to happen?" asked Crown prosecutor Ruth Picha.
"I thought he was going to kill me. He said that as soon as I opened the door."
Novak was taken to Royal Jubilee Hospital and kept overnight. Her voice is different now, she told Justice Keith Bracken.
The next day, when she walked through her home with police officers, she found her kitchen knife on a shelf with duct tape that didn't belong to her.
Police also found an X-Acto knife in a bag under her son's bed.
