Airman 1st Class Grant Harrison is on trial at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, in the fatal stabbing of a man at a street festival in nearby Wittlich in August 2023. (Jennifer H. Svan/Stars and Stripes)

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany — The defense’s case for a Spangdahlem airman accused of fatally stabbing a local martial arts athlete and instructor more than a year ago will focus on whether the Air Force pinned the crime on the wrong person.

Opening arguments began Wednesday in the general court-martial of Airman 1st Class Grant Harrison.

Harrison, 26, has pleaded not guilty to unpremeditated murder in the death of Michael Ovsjannikov.

Ovsjannikov was killed in a confrontation during the early hours of Aug. 19, 2023, after a street festival in Wittlich, about 12 miles east of Spangdahlem. Ovsjannikov was found on the street near his home.

His body had four wounds consistent with a sharp object such as a knife, according to court testimony Wednesday. Two of the wounds, one to his right abdomen and another to his back, caused excessive blood loss from internal bleeding and led to his death, the German pathologist who conducted the autopsy testified.

Harrison also pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon and obstructing justice.

Harrison, a transient aircraft journeyman assigned to the 726th Air Mobility Squadron, faces a maximum punishment of life in prison if convicted of killing Ovsjannikov. He’s been confined at the U.S. military in Europe’s jail in Sembach since Aug. 20, 2023, the 52nd Fighter Wing said this week.

Air Force prosecutor Lt. Col. Lisa Wotkowicz on Wednesday described an altercation that occurred while Harrison walked home from Pig Fest. A small group encountered Ovsjannikov, and an Air Force staff sergeant in the group got into a fight with the martial arts instructor, Wotkowicz said.

The staff sergeant is expected to testify, she said, that he and Ovsjannikov exchanged punches, and that the staff sergeant ended up on the ground.

The next thing he said he remembered, Wotkowicz said, is feeling the weight of Ovsjannikov on him and seeing Harrison standing near him with a knife in his hands.

Harrison later confessed to “stabbing a man” in messages found on the staff sergeant’s phone, Wotkowicz said, and talked about bringing a knife with him to the festival.

But civilian defense attorney Grover Baxley said that the staff sergeant was the aggressor and that the DNA and blood found at the scene, eyewitness testimony and his lack of credibility “all point to” him as being responsible for Ovsjannikov’s death.

Michael Ovsjannikov, the victim of a fatal stabbing in Wittlich, Germany, on Aug. 19, 2023. An American airman assigned to Spangdahlem Air Base is on trial at the base on a charge of unpremeditated murder, among others. (Facebook)

A candle reading “RIP Micha” is among the items at a memorial in Wittlich, Germany, for Michael Ovsjannikov, the 28-year-old victim of a fatal stabbing in Wittlich, Germany, on Aug. 19, 2023. A U.S. airman from Spangdahlem Air Base was charged with unpremeditated murder in the case and is now on trial. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)

A knife was found later on the day of Ovsjannikov’s death in the Lieser River, underneath a bridge that led back to Harrison’s apartment in Wittlich, a German criminal investigator testified Wednesday.

Harrison was arrested along with another Spangdahlem airman in connection with the stabbing. Base officials have not released the name of the second airman.

A wing statement in response to Stars and Stripes questions said this week that the airman was “held accountable via nonjudicial punishment,” an action that was more appropriate with his role in the altercation.

No criminal charges are pending against him, Air Force officials said.

Much of Wednesday’s court testimony focused on physical evidence found near Ovsjannikov’s body.

More than a dozen photos were taken of blood drops found on the narrow stone street leading up to where his body was found.

Ovsjannikov did not have a bloody nose or a bloody lip, the pathologist testified during defense cross examination, nor was he found with defensive wounds on his forearms or hands.

The trial is scheduled to continue through Oct. 11.