A Windsor judge “pushed the boundaries” of sentencing limitations Monday with a 15-year prison term for a man who drunkenly stabbed his common law wife to death because she yelled at him.
In a case highlighting intimate partner violence, Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas said past sentencing norms are no longer acceptable.
Thomas had harsh words for Wellington Charles Holland, who previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the brutal killing of 67-year-old Janice Madison. The couple had been in a relationship for about four years.
“Mr. Holland wasted his life, and now he has wasted your mother’s life,” Thomas told the victim’s family in court. “There is nothing I can do to change that. And I am sorry for that.”
Police were called to a house in the 1400 block of Southdale Drive around 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 14, 2023.
Holland, now 64, had called one of his sisters and said he just killed Madison. His two sisters went over to the house.
Holland told his sisters, and then police officers, that “she just kept yelling and yelling, and I just couldn’t stand it anymore,” according to an agreed statement of facts.
Holland died from stab wounds to the ear and chest. She also had blunt trauma injuries and defensive wounds on her hands.
Holland, a heavy drinker since age 14, had a blood alcohol content estimated between 260 and 335 mg/100 ml of blood. That’s about triple the legal limit for driving.
Thomas said Monday it was a blood alcohol content “that likely would have killed most of us.”
Holland was originally charged with first-degree murder. He pleaded guilty in November to manslaughter.
An agonizing sentencing hearing followed on Monday, with Madison’s grieving family members providing victim impact statements.
Madison was a loving mother of four and doting grandmother of nine children, including some who are too young to remember her.
Most of the eight victim impact statements were filed for the judge’s review without being read in court.
But three of Madison’s daughters — Angeline Pettigrew, Brittany-Jean Madison-Struck, and Jenelle Madison-Struck — took the stand to face the man who killed their mother.
They all spoke of continuously suffering from depression, anxiety, and guilt.
Pettigrew remembers the day her mom talked excitedly about her new relationship with the man who eventually took her life.
Holland was “a person she cared about who claimed to care about her,” said Pettigrew.
“I can’t even say his name.”
She said the grief has invaded every aspect of her life. She even finds herself looking suspiciously at a husband who doesn’t deserve it.
“Sometimes I catch myself wondering if he could hurt me the way this man hurt my mom,” said Pettigrew.
“Can we really trust anybody?”
Jenelle Madison-Struck said feelings of joy are overtaken by an immediate realization that she can’t share those special moments with her mom.
She is afflicted with guilt.
“I can only imagine that she felt so terrified and alone,” said Jenelle.
Brittany-Jean Madison-Struck’s voice also trembled as she talked about guilt for “not trying hard enough to get her away from a person I feel is a monster.”
“My mother was a kind, loving, and strong woman,” said Brittany-Jean. “Yet for years she lived in fear of the man who was supposed to protect her.”
Pettigrew said she was angry that society has become “numb to domestic violence.”
“My mom deserves better, and so does every other victim out there,” said Pettigrew.
Intimate partner violence was a central focus during the sentencing.
Holland’s criminal record, which stretches back to 1978, includes eight previous convictions for crimes, including previous assaults against Madison.
Assistant Crown attorney Christina Eid asked for a 15-year sentence.
She said eight to 12 years is the norm for manslaughter. But in the case of intimate partner violence, she said the court should impose a sentence that reflects the victim was in a position of “trust and vulnerability” with her killer.
Eid said the sentence “must be in harmony” with “new and prevailing social norms” related to protecting vulnerable people in domestic relationships.
Acknowledging the sentence would be “elevated” due to previous domestic violence convictions, defence lawyer Robert DiPietro Jr. asked for 12 years.
While noting several aggravating elements of the case, DiPietro said Holland’s decision to plead guilty and save the victim’s family from a lengthy trial was a mitigating factor.
Thomas sided with the Crown.
He agreed there were mitigating factors. But the judge said there were also significant aggravating factors, including the “brutal stabbing and beating of an intimate partner in her bedroom, leaving her on the floor bloody and dying.”
Thomas said domestic violence has become a “far too common occurrence in this country,” and Holland’s sentence must “equate to changing norms in society.”
“This is a tragic and brutal case of intimate partner violence and the sentence must reflect that,” he said.
An egregious and reprehensible criminal offence
When Thomas asked if he had anything to say before sentencing, Holland expressed “regret.”
“I did not mean for it to happen,” said Holland. “I’m deeply sorry for what I put them through. For what I put my own family through.”
He also turned briefly to face Madison’s family.
“I didn’t mean to stab her,” Holland said as his victim’s family members wept in the gallery. “I swear to god, I didn’t mean it.”
DiPietro later told reporters that Holland was ready to accept whatever fate the judge decided.
“He certainly is regretful and remorseful,” said DiPietro. “He was certainly willing to accept any sentence that he received. He was honest in his pre-sentence report about how he felt and that it would haunt him moving forward.”
Assistant Crown attorney Bryan Pillon said he hoped the sentence could give Madison’s family “a small degree of comfort, knowing justice was served.”
“Mr. Holland’s actions were an egregious and reprehensible criminal offence and today’s sentence sends a message to the community that such conduct will be punished severely,” said Pillon.
“Indeed, that sentence has pushed the boundaries of what was previously considered legally supportable for this type of offence.”