An Elliot Lake man, who killed his wife with a single rifle shot three years ago, has been found guilty of second-degree murder.
Wayne McLeod was convicted following a trial that took place in May, June and July 2021 at the Sault Ste. Marie courthouse.
In a written decision delivered Dec. 17, Superior Court Justice Edward Gareau said McLeod was angry and frustrated with his wife Diane and that's why he pulled the trigger.
"He meant to kill his wife and was fully aware of the consequences of his actions," the judge concluded.
Diane McLeod, 67, died of a gunshot wound to her torso around 10 p.m.on Nov. 14, 2018.
A single shot from a .308 Winchester calibre lever rifle penetrated her right lower back and exited her left chest, damaging multiple organs.
Her body was located on the basement stairs in the couple's Valley Crescent home in Elliot Lake.
The court heard her then 64-year-old husband called 911 hours later telling the dispatcher at 5:42 a.m. on Nov.15 "I shot my wife" and that she was not alive.
An Ontario Provincial Police crisis negotiator began speaking with McLeod, who indicated he had a rifle and intended to take his own life.
As a result of the call, OPP officers, including tactical, rescue and emergency response teams, as well as other units, set up a perimeter outside the home.
The crisis negotiator was on the phone with McLeod for more than four and a half hours, encouraging him to put down the rifle, not to take his life and to go outside and surrender to police.
At 11:02 a.m. he stepped onto the porch with a cell phone to his ear.
One of the officers yelled "Wayne, it's police, don't move."
Almost immediately, he retreated into the house but was tackled by an officer, who followed him inside, and was arrested.
McLeod, who was bitten on the ear by a police dog, was taken to hospital and later to the OPP detachment.
During a three-hour videotaped interview with one of the investigators he confessed to killing his wife, the court heard.
He provided details about what had occurred, his condition and the couple's relationship.
Police seized the couple's cell phones. Retrieved messages showed the pair had an unhappy and unsettled relationship prior to her death.
Other evidence from witnesses at the trial revealed McLeod had an immature, almost dismissive attitude towards his wife and Diane thought his alcohol consumption was a problem during their marriage.
The evidence also indicated there was no doubt that he had been drinking prior to the shooting.
The best evidence, the judge said, was that McLeod drank approximately 11 beers between 3:30 p.m. and about 10 p.m. on Nov. 14.
In his 18-page decision, Gareau noted there were many "non issues" in the case.
It is known that Diane was shot as she went up the stairs from the basement to the main floor of the home, that she was killed by a single shot from the rifle and that her husband pulled the trigger.
The essential elements of second-degree murder aren't disputed and have been established beyond a reasonable doubt, the judge said.
What is in dispute and must be decided by the court is McLeod's state of mind at the time.
Did McLeod have the requisite specific intent or is the court left in the state of reasonable doubt that his consumption of alcohol and level of intoxication vitiate the intent required for murder, Gareau said.
"This is a single-issue case," he wrote. "In light of his intoxication has the Crown proven the requisite intent to kill for second-degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt?"
McLeod is guilty of a crime, the judge said. "The question is whether it is a crime of second-degree murder or a crime of manslaughter."
His level of intoxication "is crucial to the ultimate question of intent," Gareau said, indicating the most telling evidence was a comment he made in a text message to his wife's son that he "just couldn't take it anymore."
He sent the text at 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 15.
This is "powerful evidence" to his motivation – that he meant to kill his wife and was fully aware of the consequences of his actions, the judge said.
McLeod "pulled the trigger to escape a problem .... to end an unhappy marriage."
Gareau also pointed to a phone call McLeod made to his sister shortly after the shooting (10:10 p.m. on Nov. 14).
The call wasn't answered, but he left a message, saying "I got a big problem here."
He was clearly aware of what he had done and the situation he was in, Gareau said.
As in his later 911 call, McLeod sounded lucid and coherent with no visible signs he was under the influence of alcohol and impaired.
His call was calm and measured, not frantic, and "reflects an awareness of the consequences of his actions."
Based on the totality of the evidence, Gareau concluded McLeod was not in an advanced stage of intoxication when he pulled the trigger and found him guilty of second-degree murder.
He had the capacity to foresee the inevitable consequences of his actions when he loaded his rifle, and fired it in the direction of Diane, at point blank range, in the narrow and confined space of the stairwell, the judge said.
McLeod will be sentenced Feb. 25.