The trial of an Angus man accused of choking and stabbing his partner to death has begun in Glasgow.
Keith Rizzo, 23, allegedly murdered his then girlfriend Neomi Smith, also 23, at her flat in Brechin on June 9 last year.
Prosecutors claim he attacked the Aberdonian, compressing her neck thereby restricting her breathing.
Rizzo, of Brechin, is then said to have repeatedly struck the care worker on the head and body with knives.
Rizzo, who denies all charges, is also accused of assaulting three former partners and threatening another sometime between December 2014 and May 2019.
The first Crown witness to be called in the case at Glasgow High Court was 23-year-old Mary Saville, who was in an on-off relationship with Rizzo between 2014 and 2017.
She said she was attacked by the accused on three separate occasions.
When asked to explain what happened during the incidents, the support worker, who lives in Aberdeen, said: “The first occurred while we were living together at his mum’s flat on Church Street in Brechin. We had an argument at around midday in his bedroom and I was pushed in the chest by him.”
Another former partner Murron Wallace, 19, said Rizzo was regularly verbally abusive and called her “every name you could ever think of”.
She said: “He was very nasty and manipulative.
“He tried to belittle me and make me feel like I was nothing. He called me a bitch, a slag, and a c***.
“I can’t remember how many times but more than once. It was very intimidating.
“He sent me horrible messages after I ended the relationship.
“He followed me twice. I was never in danger but I felt unsafe.”
Rizzo also denies an accusation he assaulted Miss Smith to her injury and danger of life between May 5 and June 8 2019.
The trial continues.
