Latest news with #VanessaLadouceur
CTV News
11 hours ago
- CTV News
Powerful message from murder victim Vanessa Ladouceur's mother
Calgary Watch Michael Adenyi has been found guilty of the first-degree murder of Vanessa Ladouceur, and the victim's mother delivered a powerful message in court Thursday.
CTV News
16 hours ago
- CTV News
‘I hope you remember her face': Mother addresses man who killed daughter in random Calgary stabbing
Michael Adenyi was found guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Vanessa Ladouceur. (Court exhibit photo) It was a highly emotional day in court for the mother of Vanessa Ladouceur, who addressed Michael Adenyi, the man who stabbed her daughter to death in a random attack in Calgary's Beltline three years ago. A jury found Adenyi, 29, guilty of first-degree murder last month in the death of Ladouceur, 30, on March 18, 2022. He was captured on surveillance video around 6:30 a.m. following the woman for roughly two blocks while she walked to work at a fitness facility along 10th Avenue S.E. before tackling her into an alcove. She was stabbed eight times in 11 seconds with a large kitchen knife, with many blows to her head and neck. 'The fact you, Michael, just butchered her there and left her to die on the street like some animal is incomprehensible,' Erika Ladouceur said during sentencing submissions Thursday. 'I hope you remember her beautiful face every time you see the scars on your hand or look in the mirror and never get the chance to hurt someone else again.' She described the traumatic experience of identifying her daughter's body in the hospital after the attack. 'I remember just standing there not understanding why her beautiful blonde hair was red,' she recalled through sobs. 'The pain I feel every day since then is immeasurable.' Ladouceur was born and lived in Toronto but moved to Calgary with her mother and sister when she was around two years old. Her mother said her daughter had just moved into an apartment months before her death, loved the mountains and would paint portraits and landscapes. She said she was spiritual and passionate about poetry and politics. 'She was a deeply sensitive loving and giving person,' she said. 'She understood the importance of giving back and being humble.' Ladouceur's mother told the court her daughter also felt strongly about helping the homeless and improving animal welfare, recalling that she memorized Martin Luther King's famous 'I Had a Dream' speech. 'She wanted to make a difference in this world and was just fearless,' she said. ''Who am I without her? I will never see her walk down the aisle or hold my grandchild.' Adenyi sat listening in the prisoner's box and had no signs of emotion. 'All the dreams that I had as a mother for my child, destroyed in 12 seconds,' she said. 'Losing her is so profound it is impossible to put in words.' 'She was an innocent victim': Judge addresses Adenyi A conviction for first-degree murder in Canada carries a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Justice Jane Sidnell also imposed a lifetime firearms ban, describing the crime against a stranger as 'heinous.' 'She was going to work and you took her life. You destroyed her life and it's obvious to me that you have also destroyed the life of those who knew it,' she told Adenyi. 'She was an innocent victim.' Adenyi's defence claimed he was in the midst of a psychotic episode and was not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. He told the court during the trial he was hallucinating and believed he was attacking animalistic and demonic creatures and told the jury he would take hour-long showers to drown out voices in his head. In May, a jury deliberated for 12 hours before rejecting the not criminally responsible plea and convicting him of first-degree murder. The defence said Adenyi showed all the hallmarks of schizophrenia and had been prescribed antipsychotic drugs, however, Crown prosecutors argued he lied to police and mental health professionals to avoid facing consequences for the killing. Throughout the five-week trial, the jury was shown disturbing and bizarre evidence, including two red notebooks found in a backpack Adenyi was seen on surveillance footage dumping in an alley garbage bin. The books included writings like 'Death Note,' 'Three people to kill,' and 'Beat three times, rape, torture.' Adenyi's internet search history also revealed searches for 'How strong is a human skull?' and 'How much blood loss can a person handle?' A small group of Adenyi's family was in court for the sentencing Thursday but declined to comment.
Global News
02-05-2025
- Global News
Jury in Calgary stabbing murder trial told by judge to consider NCR defence first
The judge overseeing the trial of a Calgary man accused of fatally attacking and stabbing a woman three years ago has told the jury there are four possible verdicts it could reach. Michael Adenyi, 29, is charged with first-degree murder in the 2022 death of fitness instructor Vanessa Ladouceur on a downtown street. Adenyi has said he was hallucinating and believed he was attacking a creature when he attacked the woman and his lawyers say he is not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. He followed Ladouceur for nearly two blocks before bodychecking her into an alcove and stabbing her several times, including six wounds to the face. She died from a loss of blood. Justice Jane Sidnell said the jury must first determine if Adenyi is not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. Story continues below advertisement 'Mr. Adenyi relies on having suffered from a mental disorder at the time of the offence that rendered him incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the attack on Vanessa Ladouceur or of knowing that the attack on Vanessa Ladouceur was wrong,' Sidnell said Friday. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'You will first consider Mr. Adenyi's NCR defence. Mr. Adenyi has the burden to prove his NCR defence. If you find that Mr. Adenyi has not proven his NCR defence, then you will consider the charge that Mr. Adenyi faces.' Sidnell said if the NCR defence is rejected, the jury must then consider whether he is guilty of manslaughter, second-degree murder or first-degree murder. She is urging jurors to use their common sense and to concentrate only on the evidence heard at trial. 'There will be no more evidence. It is your duty to decide if Mr. Adenyi has proven that it is more likely than not that he is not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder at the time the crime was committed,' she said. 'You must make your decision on a rational and fair consideration and not on passion, sympathy or prejudice against Mr. Adenyi, the Crown or anyone else connected to this matter.' The Crown has said that Adenyi is guilty, that the attack was planned and he did not tell the truth about his memories of the attack when he testified during the trial and to mental health professionals after his arrest. Story continues below advertisement The case is to be in the hands of the jury soon.
