PUNTA GORDA — A jury heard from more than a half-dozen witnesses Monday in the first day of the trial of Scott Huss, a Punta Gorda man accused of killing his estranged wife three years ago.

However, the six-plus hours of testimony, including that of the defendant’s own mother and brother, was almost overshadowed by the defense’s opening comments to jurors, as attorney Michael Powell linked the death of Yana Huss to organized crime — and an unknown dark figure.

“Yana was murdered by members of the Russian mafia,” Powell said.

The body of 31-year-old Yana Huss was found on the floor of her Rickover Street home on April 25, 2007. The Russian-born woman had been stabbed multiple times, and her throat was cut so severely that she was nearly decapitated.

Scott Huss faces up to life in prison if he is found guilty this week at trial. No plea offer was made by prosecutors in the case.

Assistant State Attorney Dan Feinberg told jurors that Yana Huss, a young mother of two, had been stabbed more than 10 times.

Feinberg described the graphic details of Yana Huss’ death — both of the deceased’s breasts and genitals had been punctured with a knife or a similar sharp object — during the state’s opening arguments.

While the prosecutor meticulously laid out the state’s seemingly thorough witness list and anticipated physical evidence in the case, Powell took just seconds in turning the state’s case upside down.

“Scott Huss didn’t kill his wife,” he told jurors.

Powell claimed Yana Huss had ties to the Russian mafia and those connections, he told jurors, were responsible for her death.

Scott Huss claimed he saw a “dark figure” climb into a dark-colored SUV at the couple’s Rickover Street home on the morning of Yana Huss’ death. Huss watched as the SUV drove down the mostly isolated street. He then went inside his home and found his wife’s body on the floor, Powell claimed.

Powell suggested the “dark figure” was the real killer who was furious with Yana Huss over money.

The defense claimed Scott Huss’ wife disobeyed orders, or prolonged efforts, from the “Russian underworld” in its alleged efforts to get access to the Punta Gorda man’s $1 million worth of assets.

A retired U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent is expected to elaborate further on this defense argument later this week when he is called to testify as an expert witness.

In spite of all of this, Powell argued, Scott Huss remains devoted to his deceased wife.

“Scott Huss loved his wife very much and continues to mourn her every day,” he said.

Yana’s then-8-year-old son was found unhurt in the house. Prosecutors are expected to play a videotaped deposition of now-11-year-old Petir Shalin during Wednesday’s proceedings.

The boy, who now lives in Russia with his maternal grandmother, previously testified as to witnessing his stepfather, Scott Huss, stab and kill his mother.

The Russian mafia was not brought up again during Monday’s proceedings, where several law enforcement officials from Longwood and Tallahassee took the witness stand.

Officials claim Scott Huss drove the boy — his stepson — to his mother’s home in Longwood, near Orlando.

However, Joyce Huss told jurors that she never saw her son drop off Petir Shalin in Longwood.

Instead, she found her step-grandson outside her home with a suitcase.

Prosecutors pounced on Joyce Huss’ actions — or lack of actions — following Petir’s sudden appearance on April 25, 2007.

The 79-year-old woman first took the boy to lunch and then clothes shopping before police were alerted. She claimed Petir didn’t tell her anything was wrong immediately.

The boy’s shirt at the time, according to prosecutors, was stained with blood.

The Longwood woman appeared agitated at times during direct examination by Feinberg. She was unable to answer several of the prosecutor’s questions due to the lapse of time since the incident.

Michael Huss, Scott Huss’ brother, also testified during Monday’s proceedings. He told jurors that he immediately called police after reading an “unusual letter” written by his brother that his mother found in Petir’s suitcase.

The defense immediately objected when the letter was referenced by the state as a “suicide note.”

Scott Huss was located on the night of April 25, 2007 in Tallahassee after a Be on the Look Out bulletin was issued for him as a possible murder suspect. Officials said a bus ticket to Texas was found on his person by Tallahassee police after Huss first checked into a hotel and took a cab to a nearby college campus.

A hotel desk clerk and a taxi driver were called to testify Monday as to their interaction with Scott Huss on the night of April 25, 2010.

While the hotel employee was able to identify Huss in court as the customer he checked in, the cab driver could not identify Scott Huss as his fare that night near a hotel in eastern Tallahassee.

The trial is expected to last all week.

E-mail: kbaxter@sun-herald.com