SELECTED CASE LAW
ONTARIO:
2014 ONCA 324 involved, among other things, a man persistently communicating with his ex-wife using a fake Facebook account. During the couple’s marriage, Mr. S monitored his wife’s phone calls, tried to install tracking devices on her computer, tried to break into her email and MSN accounts, and used a pseudonym on Facebook to communicate with her. After they separated, S created a Facebook profile pretending to be a recently divorced man, and used the fake account to ask his ex-wife for relationship advice. Although his ex-wife quickly figured out the ruse, she played along, telling him that he needed to move on with his life.
After messaging back and forth using the fake account, S went to his estranged wife’s home and strangled her in bed. After taking their daughter to his parent’s house, he then returned to the murder site to attempt suicide and to have sex with the victim’s corpse. S was found guilty of first degree murder, but appealed the verdict on the grounds that the murder was not planned and deliberate, and that the jury was misdirected at trial. The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal, finding both planning and deliberation, and holding that the decision tree given to the jury was not misleading.
Criminal Offence(s): Criminal Harassment