A University of Houston (UH) professor was stabbed to death with the heel of a stiletto shoe, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Alf Stefan Andersson was a top UH researcher and spent the last three and a half years studying hormones in women's reproductivehealth at the school's Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling.

Police received a call about an assault in progress early Sunday morning and arrived at the luxury condominium complex around 3:50 a.m. Ana Lilia Trujillo, 44, answered the door for investigators and showed them Andersson's body lying on the ground. Trujillo was immediately detained for questioning, as she was the only person present in the condo.

According to CBS affiliate KHOU, police said the UH professor was pronounced dead on the scene with ten stab wounds to his head.

Trujillo was arrested and charged with murder, but she claimed she killed Andersson out of self-defense. Geraldine Gill, who lives in the complex where the murder took place, said she believed the self-defense theory.

"My thought was, I bet she defended herself with the only thing she had," Gill told KHOU. "I think so, when do you break out your stiletto shoe and kill somebody?"

Jim Carroll claimed to have known Trujillo previously and said she also went by the alias Ana Fox.

"She's a force to be reckoned with, and I don't think she's the victim in this case, no," Carroll said.

Carroll said the two became friends when she rented a hotel room from him for several months, a period of time when they spoke frequently, even about men she had dated.

"And she goes, 'If anybody ever screws with me,' she'd pull up one of her stilettos and said, 'I'll stab him in the eyes with this,'" he said.

Harris County records did not indicate she had an attorney and she is currently awaiting a preliminary hearing in jail on $100,000 bond.

UH released a statement following the professor's death.

"Our hearts go out to his colleagues, family and friends during this difficult time," university officials said in a statement.

A colleague of Andersson's also released a statement.

"He was a talented biochemist and a good friend. He shall be sorely missed," Dr. Jan-Ake Gustafsson, the center's director, said.