The woman charged with the stabbing death of her 38-year-old husband in their condo looked dazed and confused when she appeared briefly in court Thursday morning.
Wearing a baggy, grey sweatshirt, the petite, longhaired 35-year-old Pui Chun "Winnie" Poon kept her head bowed throughout her five-minute appearance in the dock at Richmond Provincial Court.
With a Cantonese interpreter standing beside her, Poon never said a word, nor looked at the crowd in the courtroom.
She made no plea to the charge of second-degree murder and her next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 23 at the same court.
Poon is facing the charge following the death of her husband in the early hours of Tuesday.
Police were called to their home in Lansdowne Square condo building in the 8700-block of Ackroyd Road around 1 a.m.
Mounties found her 38-year-old husband suffering from what appeared to be stab wounds. He was pronounced dead shortly after.
Outside the courthouse, a man claiming to be a relative of the couple, Mr. Chan, said the couple really loved each other and it "had to be an unfortunate accident."
The man, who wouldn't give his first name, told reporters huddled around him that nobody in the immediate family expected such a tragedy given how loving they appeared together.
He confirmed the couple had no children but wouldn't say how long they had been married or how long they had lived in Richmond.
When told police suspected the death apparently stemmed from a "domestic incident," Chan shook his head and told reporters not to assume anything and that the disturbance likely came from another apartment.
Poon will remain in custody until her next court appearance.
mhopkins@richmond-news.com
