A Nova Scotia man was found guilty of killing his fianceé during sex — but the jury ruled Wednesday that the circumstances leading up to her death absolved James Leopold of murder.
Leopold said he accidentally killed Laura Lee Robertson when she bit his penis during a night of drunken sex, the CBC reported.
He said he hit her in the neck with both hands in reaction to the pain, panicked when he found she was dead and hid her body in the woods.
“It just happened,” he told the court, according to the Toronto Sun. “It just happened so fast.”
The Bridgewater jury found Leopold guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter in the April 2011 death of 47-year-old Robertson, the CBC reported. He had originally been charged with second-degree murder.
Canadian law allows for homicides that would otherwise be considered murder to be reduced to manslaughter if they were committed “in the heat of passion caused by sudden provocation.”
Crown attorneys said that the 33-year-old killed his fianceé intentionally. They pointed to testimony from a forensic pathologist who determined that Robertson died of asphyxiation, the Canadian Press reported, which he argued couldn’t be caused by a quick blow to the neck.
The victim’s daughter, Amanda Jones, told reporters that she felt “let down" by the verdict.
“At the end of the day, I would never have been settled with the verdict, (even if) it was second-degree murder,” she told reporters, according to the Chronicle Herald. “Either way, we can’t bring her back . . . and I think it’s important to have the verdict and to have closure put to this.”
Leopold’s father told reporters outside the courtroom he thought the jury did the right thing.
“I think justice was served. It’s sad on both sides,” he said.
Leopold will be sentenced on June 27. There is no minimum sentence for manslaughter in Canada, and the maximum penalty is life in prison.
Leopold said he accidentally killed Laura Lee Robertson when she bit his penis during a night of drunken sex, the CBC reported.
He said he hit her in the neck with both hands in reaction to the pain, panicked when he found she was dead and hid her body in the woods.
“It just happened,” he told the court, according to the Toronto Sun. “It just happened so fast.”
The Bridgewater jury found Leopold guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter in the April 2011 death of 47-year-old Robertson, the CBC reported. He had originally been charged with second-degree murder.
Canadian law allows for homicides that would otherwise be considered murder to be reduced to manslaughter if they were committed “in the heat of passion caused by sudden provocation.”
Crown attorneys said that the 33-year-old killed his fianceé intentionally. They pointed to testimony from a forensic pathologist who determined that Robertson died of asphyxiation, the Canadian Press reported, which he argued couldn’t be caused by a quick blow to the neck.
The victim’s daughter, Amanda Jones, told reporters that she felt “let down" by the verdict.
“At the end of the day, I would never have been settled with the verdict, (even if) it was second-degree murder,” she told reporters, according to the Chronicle Herald. “Either way, we can’t bring her back . . . and I think it’s important to have the verdict and to have closure put to this.”
Leopold’s father told reporters outside the courtroom he thought the jury did the right thing.
“I think justice was served. It’s sad on both sides,” he said.
Leopold will be sentenced on June 27. There is no minimum sentence for manslaughter in Canada, and the maximum penalty is life in prison.
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