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Neighbours say the couple, who live in the two-storey brick home at 10 Greenwood Ave. — where newspapers, rags and plastic containers were strewn on the lawn, and where blood was streaked down the front stairs — are a husband and wife in their 40s.One witness said he saw a woman, who was wearing a bathrobe and bleeding from her arm, dart from the home and start throwing objects — perhaps shoes — at a man walking up the street.

“She was just running out and screaming — I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but she sounded horrific,” said Victor Su, owner of nearby burrito shop Chino Locos. Soon after, another witness ran from a bus stop across the street to cloak the woman in his coat.

Mr. Makhniashvili has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and breaching his bail conditions. The alleged stabbing in May — reportedly following a noise complaint — put a resident of his Toronto apartment building in hospital.

His lawyer, Calvin Barry, said his client has “been under a lot of distress” over his daughter’s disappearance.

“Also, the family just came off a bout of stress and torment over the missing son,” Mr. Barry said, referring to Monday’s news that Mr. Makhniashvili’s son, George, had briefly run away to Vaughan with his guitar. “When it comes all at once, it’s quite crushing psychologically for the accused, the son and the wife.”

The family — whose roots lie in the Republic of Georgia, where Mr. Makniashvili lectured in philosophy and where his wife, Lela Tabidze, worked as a journalist — has been embroiled in controversy since they reunited in Canada more than a year ago.