On July 30, 2012, Mark Stephin Horton committed himself to killing the woman he'd recently stopped dating and stabbed her repeatedly, according to state prosecutors who delivered their opening statements against Horton Wednesday in Anchorage Superior Court.
Horton's ex-girlfriend survived, and jurors will decide whether to convict him of attempted murder, two assault charges and reckless endangerment.
Legal intern Sarah Park said in her opening statement that the 52-year-old violently assaulted Sharon Collins, "because if he couldn't have her, no one else could."
"Mark Horton stabbed Collins eight times while he yelled, 'I'm going to kill you,'" she said.
Defense attorney James Ferguson argued Collins was the aggressor, striking his client with a large figurine. Horton reacted in self-defense, he said.
Horton's trial comes more than two years after the bloody altercation in East Anchorage.
Park said the assault did not involve alcohol or happen at a party. Instead, it occurred around 6 p.m. among family and friends, she said.
Collins went to visit her sister -- Bridgett Horton, who used to be married to the defendant's brother -- that night. Mark Horton was there. He and Collins had recently broken up, and he wanted to talk about their split in an upstairs bedroom, said Park.
During that conversation, Mark Horton allegedly became angry and locked Collins in the room, refusing to let her leave. She was eventually able to get out by convincing him she needed to use the restroom, according to the prosecutor.
Horton continued to follow Collins around and "acted weird," Park said.
When Collins' son-in-law Lloyd Joseph came inside the house to visit, she asked for a ride home. The state argues that Horton was waiting by the door and, as Joseph stepped out of the house, Horton punched Collins in the face and shut the door, locking Joseph outside.
"He wasted no time and began to stab Collins as she cried for help," Park said.
Bridgett Horton tried to intervene, but the state says Mark Horton threatened to stab her with the knife if she did. That alleged threat is the basis of a third-degree assault charge the state also brought against him.
"She couldn't sit by and watch her sister die, so she grabbed a large figurine, and she threw it at Mr. Horton, hitting him dead in the head," Park said.
The prosecutor displayed a photo of the broken decoration, its black pieces scattered in an entryway.
Despite the blow to the head, Mark Horton continued his attack, the prosecutor said. In a last ditch effort, Bridgett Horton grabbed the assailant's hands and plunged the knife into a wall, holding it there long enough for Collins to flee.
Joseph rushed Collins to the hospital, she said.
Shortly after, Anchorage police officers found Mark Horton near the home, wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and black jeans covered in blood, according to an Anchorage Daily News story at that time. They immediately arrested him, police said.
Collins was stabbed in the breast, face and multiple times in the neck, Park said.
Mark Horton sat quietly behind the defense table, fixedly listening to the state's arguments. He appeared in court wearing a black suit, light blue dress shirt and orange tie. Before the jurors were escorted into the courtroom, Ferguson tied his client's tie, as Mark Horton's hands were cuffed.
Ferguson told jurors that Horton was defending himself. He said Superior Court Judge Jack Smith would likely give instructions about self-defense and "heat of passion" before their deliberations.
"(Horton) likely used force, obviously it was, but the question will be whether he was justified," Ferguson said.
He argued that while it's unknown what the state's witnesses will say on the stand, one witness will testify that Collins was the aggressor. She hit him over the head with the statue, he said.
Mark Horton supported Collins, he said, sending her weekly paychecks in Louisiana. The night of the altercation, his client questioned Collins about infidelity. That's when she lashed out at him, Ferguson said.
"This is not some unprovoked, malicious act ... the evidence will not support that claim," he said.
Mark Horton's trial continued Wednesday morning with the state's first witnesses. It is scheduled to continue Thursday.