Emotional and graphic testimony Wednesday from a Winnipeg lawyer seriously injured by a bomb mailed to her office.

Lawyer Maria Mitousis lost her right hand in July 2015 when a digital voice recorder detonated while she was holding it.

Her testimony started with the legal workings of a contentious business deal between two ex-partners.

When it came time to guide court through the horrifying moments of a life-changing day, Mitousis's voice became softer. But she spoke in great detail about her memory of what happened.

Mitousis testified she became Iris Amsel's lawyer in 2010 to help settle a business deal between Iris and her ex-husband Guido Amsel, the man accused of mailing a bomb to her office.

At one point, Crown attorney Chris Vanderhooft asked Mitousis if Guido Amsel was in the courtroom. Mitousis looked at Amsel and said, "He's the gentleman sitting in the corner with the headphones on."

Amsel appeared composed with his eyes fixed on Mitousis during her testimony.

Mitousis explained how Friday, July 3 started with a morning game of golf and breakfast with friends, before she arrived at work to find a "puffy envelope" with her name on it sitting on her desk at her law office at 252 River Ave.

"I picked it up and looked at it,” Mitousis testified.  "I assumed it was something personal."

“I usually don’t get business letters in puffy envelopes.”

Mitousis told court she opened the package with a pair of scissors.

Inside, she described finding an orange pouch which contained a digital voice recorder and a colourful, handwritten note with instructions to start listening because it would help her defence.

Mitousis told court she hesitated before activating the recorder. 

"All I could think about was what was going to be said,” she said.  "So I pressed the button."

Clenching her left hand at times while in the witness box, Mitousis recalls feeling stunned when the digital recorder detonated.

"I remember the sound which was like a firecracker.  It popped."

"It just felt like I was reeling for a moment.  I remember feeling off balance, like I was underwater."

Along with the loss of her right hand, Mitousis suffered extensive injuries to her throat, face, and abdomen.

"I remember there was a pain in my stomach and a burning.  I could feel I had pieces of metal, sharp pieces, in my mouth."

“I felt throbbing in my right hand.  In my left hand, too.”

"I knew immediately I was bleeding from my neck and my chin."

Letter bombs were later discovered at another law office and at Guido Amsel's ex-wife's workplace but were safely detonated by police.

Mitousis was taken to hospital and awoke the next day from surgery to a life-changing realization.

"My right arm is completely wrapped and I didn't have a hand any longer."

More than two years after the explosion, Mitousis told court she's still in pain.

"My right arm is in a constant state of pain, throbbing, burning, pulsing."

Following months and months of recovery, Mitousis said she returned to work full-time this past January.

She recently underwent surgery to repair a damaged ear drum and is still doing physiotherapy to strengthen her left hand.

Mitousis testified that after four years of legal proceedings, the matter between Guido and Iris had been resolved in 2014 when Guido agreed to pay Iris $40,000 from the proceeds of a sale of machinery the couple had owned together. 

The auction was supposed to happen in July 2015, but court heard Iris cancelled the auction after the explosion at Mitousis's office. 

Under cross-examination, Mitousis testified Amsel was polite in email exchanges she had with him, but that he wasn't very happy that the matter wasn't being resolved the way he wanted.

Guido Amsel has pleaded not guilty to five counts of attempted murder and several explosives related charges.

Provincial court judge Tracey Lord is hearing the case.

The trial continues Monday.