Kevin Klassen stood in a Winnipeg courtroom and pleaded guilty Thursday to killing his ex-girlfriend, Christina Stoyko, inside her Redwood Avenue home in 2016.

Klassen, 38, was charged with second-degree murder after Stoyko, 39, was found dead inside the house on April 21, 2016. Stoyko got a protection order against Klassen the previous December, accusing him of being physically, verbally and emotionally abusive.

"I need to help myself get out of this as I fear for my safety," Stoyko wrote. "He will try everything possible to get me to open my door." She stated Klassen was very manipulative and deceiving.

Tall and muscled with close-cropped black hair, Klassen stood up and answered "guilty" after the clerk read the indictment and asked for his plea. Members of both Klassen's and Stoyko's families were in the courtroom to hear the plea.

Stoyko said she feared for her safety and that Klassen had been physically, verbally and emotionally abusive to her. (Facebook) Klassen's trial was scheduled to begin this week, but proceedings will now move to sentencing after his guilty plea.

A sentencing hearing has been set for May 1.

Members of Stoyko's family are expected to come from out of province to deliver victim impact statements.

Lawyers for the Crown and defence said they plan to make a joint sentencing recommendation, which Court of Queen's Bench Justice Vic Toews said he would follow "unless it's somehow illegal or contrary to public policy."

Details of what exactly happened to Stoyko have yet to be made public. Crown prosecutor Keri Anderson said a statement of facts will be read at the sentencing hearing.

The minimum sentence for second-degree murder is life in prison with no eligibility for parole for at least 10 years.

Although she was granted a protection order, Stoyko's death came amid a wave of concern over the accessibility of protection orders after a series of fatal domestic violence cases the previous fall.

In 2014, 54 per cent of protection order applications were denied, then-attorney general of Manitoba Gord Mackintosh said.

The NDP government at the time amended The Domestic Violence and Stalking Act, and the changes came into effect May 15, 2016.