Warning: Readers could discover some particulars on this article disturbing or upsetting.
The jury reached a verdict on Wednesday within the 1994 Katherine Janeiro homicide case, discovering her former boyfriend, Bruce Ellis, not responsible.
The jury deliberated for 2 days over the proof offered, together with photos of a bloody toilet and bed room the place the 20-year-old woman’s physique was discovered face down on the ground of her Dunlop Road condominium 30 years in the past.
The court docket heard Janeiro, who was mom to a toddler on the time of her dying, had been in an extra-marital relationship with Ellis that ended badly.
The Crown painted a state of affairs the place Ellis had grow to be irate after Janeiro confronted his then-wife, telling her she was pregnant together with his baby. The prosecution additional mentioned Ellis was enraged with Janeiro for spreading rumours he had contracted AIDS and steered he took her life in a “crime of ardour.”
Janeiro was discovered with a number of stab wounds.
Police testified to arriving on the condominium to search out “quite a lot of blood,” however the defence argued, there was no DNA proof pointing to Ellis.
The defence tried to show the court docket’s consideration to a different man, Woody Theakston, because the individual chargeable for Janeiro’s dying.
It was revealed in court docket that Janeiro had been promoting medicine out of her condominium for Theakston and that a number of folks had been coming and going from her place the day she died.
Nevertheless, the Crown mentioned the now-deceased biker and drug seller had an “iron-clad alibi,” including there was no motive for Theakston to kill Janeiro.
Nonetheless, the defence saved the highlight on Theakston. A witness testified getting into Janeiro’s condominium to search out Theakston, together with one other man, Paul Daigle, rummaging by means of the kitchen earlier than she found the younger mom’s lifeless physique within the different room.
The defence argued that Theakston and Daigle’s actions had been in keeping with a responsible thoughts and that the 2 males had tampered with the crime scene.
Whereas on the stand, Daigle denied any involvement in Janeiro’s dying, telling the court docket that she was already lifeless once they arrived and that they had been trying to find cough syrup in her kitchen for a sick good friend.
The defence continued to poke holes within the Crown’s case, noting its questionable timeline of occasions, arguing it could have been unattainable for Ellis to have dedicated the homicide, ransacked the unit, cleaned himself up, gone dwelling and slid again into mattress together with his spouse earlier than she wakened and located him sleeping.
The defence additional argued there was no proof suggesting Ellis and Janeiro had any contact that evening and advised the jury there was no tangible proof linking him to the homicide. “The proof simply doesn’t add up.”
In a ready assertion, Janeiro’s now-adult daughter, Daybreak, famous the previous 30 years had been “robust for my household.”
“I used to be two on the time of her homicide, and it has been a lifetime that has been stolen from me and a lifetime that I’ll by no means be capable to share together with her. Three years in the past, the Barrie police made an arrest that resulted in a course of that has performed out right here on the courthouse for the previous few weeks. To all of the investigators and the Crown Legal professional’s Workplace, I’m grateful in your exhausting work, however I’m disenchanted and distraught by the decision,” she said.
Police arrested Ellis, now 61, in 2021 after they mentioned they obtained a tip from the general public.
Following the decision, Ellis and his lawyer left the Barrie courthouse relieved.
“We’re so really grateful, and Mr. Ellis is trying ahead to getting on together with his life and placing this chapter behind him,” mentioned defence lawyer Mary Cremer. “The best end result was achieved on this case.”
Ellis advised Ontario Chronicle he wasn’t ready to handle the Janeiro household, solely saying, “Hopefully, she [Dawn] will get some closure someday, nevertheless it’s not going to return at the moment.”
Cremer interjected, providing, “We’re pondering of the household proper now. What they’ve been by means of has been gutwrenching as effectively. I believe it is a tragedy that, sadly, Woody Theakston acquired away with this, however hopefully, the household now has some solutions,” including, “Mr. Ellis was by no means, ever responsible of her homicide, ever.”
