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Palm print led police to murder suspect, court told

VANCOUVER - A palm print left on a roll of quarters taken from an east Vancouver home during a break-in led police to identify the accused killer, a B.C. Supreme Court jury was told Monday.

Hannah Azak, 23, was arrested a few blocks from the home of the murder victim, Ragnar (Ray) Michaelson, 83, who was stabbed to death while clutching a telephone, suggesting he was trying to call for help after an intruder entered his home.

Michaelson had been a commercial fisherman for almost 60 years and had lived in his home at 7541 Kerr St. for 35 years with his wife Evy, who died of Alzheimer's disease two months before her husband was killed.

"He was the most loving, caring and generous man," Michaelson's daughter-in-law, Faith Michaelson, told reporters outside court Monday.

She said her father-in-law was well-liked by his neighbours and his co-workers in the fishing industry, from which he retired at age 73. His fishing boat, Melville, was moored at Fishermen's Wharf in False Creek and was considered a classic beauty.

Faith Michaelson attended the opening day of trial at the Vancouver Law Courts with her husband Robert Michaelson, the murder victim's only offspring, along with their daughter Lisa and son Jason.

Azak, who has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, sat in court with her head bowed at times during testimony. She wore a grey sweatshirt with BC Corrections on the back, her long black hair tied in a pony tail.

The Crown contends that the accused entered the home through a partially open sliding glass door and cut open the screen door.

Neighbours alerted police after a person tried to back the victim's car out of the driveway and kept hitting some rocks, creating a disturbance.

The person in the car fled on foot, leaving behind Ray Michaelson's wallet and a few rolls of quarters, the prosecutor said during the Crown's opening outline of the evidence to be called at trial.

Azak was arrested minutes later walking along the street in the 3000-block East 59th Street. She had $115 cash on her, which the Crown alleges was taken from Michaelson's home during the fatal burglary.

A bloody butcher knife was also recovered, the Crown said. Michaelson was stabbed once in the upper chest.

Shortly after the slaying, which occurred the evening of July 28, 2004, the news of Azak's arrest shocked her family, who live in the Nisga'a community of Gitwinksihlkw in northern B.C.'s Nass Valley.

Stepmother Donna Alexcee described Azak as a friendly, "happy-go-lucky" person who liked to help people. She said Azak had graduated from high school and was interested in becoming an early childhood educator before she moved to Vancouver with her boyfriend.

Azak had volunteered for the Salvation Army and appeared on the television news on July 5, 2004 when the Army opened a coffee shop on East Hastings. The BCTV news report said Azak had been living a lonely life on the streets for some time.