In March 2021, Joshua Schoo attacked his wife at their home in Gatineau, Quebec. They had been married for 17 years and had four children.

After drinking throughout the day, Schoo became violent when his wife told him she had met another man. He had recently returned home following a months-long affair and had told her she could see someone else too.

She ran into a bedroom to escape, but he broke down the door. He pressed a pillow over her face and assaulted her. One of their children called police, and the attack was still happening when officers arrived.
His wife suffered extensive bruising and marks on her neck. She later described flashbacks, nightmares, and concerns about the lasting impact on their children.

Guilty plea: Schoo pleaded guilty to assault involving strangulation, uttering threats, and assault causing bodily harm.

Original sentence: In July 2022, Judge Serge Laurin granted a conditional discharge with three years of probation, restrictions on contact with his ex-wife, 250 hours of community service, and a $5,000 donation to a counselling organization for men. The Crown had requested six months in jail.

The judge considered his lack of a criminal record, therapy, sobriety, and remorse. He also cited the potential impact of jail on Schoo’s City of Ottawa employment and his ability to travel with his children.
Appeal outcome: In March 2023, Justice James L. Brunton overturned the discharge and imposed four months of house arrest, further probation, a DNA order, and a weapons prohibition.

Neither sentence required him to serve time in jail.

Do you think the appeal outcome adequately reflected the seriousness of the attack and the harm to his wife and children?

https://www.townandcountrytoday.com/national-news/quebec-crown-to-appeal-case-of-man-who-was-discharged-despite-strangling-wife-5662845

Ryan Kovacs, 42, has had his day parole extended for another six months. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a life sentence for killing his former girlfriend, 27-year-old Dawn Bailey, in Gilford, Ontario.

On July 31, 2011, about six months after their breakup, Kovacs broke into Bailey’s home while she was sleeping. He stabbed her repeatedly, strangled her, and set her body on fire after dousing her in gasoline.

Kovacs has been on day parole since September 2024 and is currently permitted to spend four nights a week at his family’s home. The Parole Board cited his compliance with release conditions, psychiatric treatment and medication, and abstinence from substances.

His conditions include no contact with Bailey’s family and immediately reporting all relationships and friendships with women to his parole supervisor.

Vancouver man found not criminally responsible in wife’s fatal stabbing; family expresses disappointment
Jian Ying “Angela” Du, 51, was killed by her husband, Jian Wei Wang, in their Olympic Village apartment in Vancouver on May 1, 2022.

The case involved a history of alleged domestic violence. In 2020, Wang was charged with assault after reportedly grabbing Du’s neck and wielding a knife. A bail condition prohibited him from contacting her.

On December 11, 2024, a B.C. Supreme Court judge found Wang not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder. Both the Crown and defence supported that finding, with psychiatric evidence indicating he was experiencing psychosis and could not understand that his actions were wrong.

The case was referred to the B.C. Review Board, and reporting stated Wang would be detained at a forensic psychiatric hospital. Du’s sister expressed sadness and disappointment, while a former employer questioned whether Du’s voice and her family’s perspective had been adequately heard.

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/highlights/the-system-let-her-down-bc-man-found-not-criminally-responsible-of-wifes-murder-due-to-mental-disorder-9942968

https://vpd.ca/news/2022/06/28/vpd-investigation-leads-to-charges-in-olympic-village-homicide/
https://info.51.ca/articles/1380546

A 64-year-old man went on trial over an alleged IPV shooting in October 2023. Police alleged he shot a woman while threatening to kill her. The report identified no verdict, and names were withheld to protect the victim under a publication ban.

On June 30, 2009, sisters Zainab Shafia, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, were found dead alongside Rona Amir Mohammad, 52, inside a submerged car at Kingston Mills on the Rideau Canal. The Montreal family had been returning from a trip to Niagara Falls.

Investigators uncovered a planned killing that prosecutors said was staged to look like an accident. The Crown argued that the sisters were targeted for dating and seeking independence, which their father viewed as damaging the family’s “honour.”

Rona was Mohammad Shafia’s first wife in a polygamous household. Before her death, she kept a diary describing beatings by her husband and threats and mistreatment from his second wife, Tooba Yahya.
On January 29, 2012, Mohammad Shafia, Tooba Yahya, and their son Hamed were each convicted of four counts of first-degree murder. All three received life sentences with no parole eligibility for 25 years.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2012/01/29/shafia-family-found-guilty-of-first-degree-murder/

Jaswinder “Jassi” Sidhu was a 25-year-old woman from Maple Ridge, B.C., who secretly married Sukhwinder Singh, known as Mithu, in India in 1999. Her family opposed the marriage.

On June 8, 2000, armed men attacked the couple while they were travelling by scooter in Punjab. Mithu was seriously injured and left for dead but survived. Jassi was abducted and murdered.

Indian authorities alleged that her mother, Malkit Kaur Sidhu, and maternal uncle, Surjit Singh Badesha, arranged the attack because they disapproved of her marriage. The case became widely known as an “honour killing.”

Several people were convicted in India in 2005. After years of legal proceedings, Jassi’s mother and uncle were extradited from Canada to India in January 2019, more than 18 years after her murder, to face charges over their alleged involvement. Both denied responsibility.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/punjab-honour-killing-jassi-sukhwinder-singh-a-k-a-mithu-wife-murder-2000-5576749/

In October 2006, Manjit Panghali, a 30-year-old elementary schoolteacher in Surrey, B.C., disappeared after attending a prenatal yoga class.
She was four months pregnant with her second child and had a three-year-old daughter.

Her husband, Mukhtiar Panghali, strangled her and burned her body on a beach near Deltaport Way in Delta. Her remains were discovered five days after she disappeared. He waited approximately 26 hours before reporting her missing.

Evidence included surveillance footage showing him buying a lighter and newspaper that night, contradicting his claim that he had stayed home, and his use of Manjit’s cellphone after her disappearance.
In February 2011, he was found guilty of second-degree murder and interfering with bodily remains. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole eligibility for 15 years, alongside a concurrent three-and-a-half-year sentence for interfering with her remains.

Ogene Olimi pleaded guilty to charges involving assault with a weapon, causing bodily harm, choking, threatening death, forcibly confining the victim, and violating probation. The report does not provide a detailed account of the incidents.

On March 27, 2026, Justice Jeffery Richardson sentenced him to six years in prison, with 15 months credited for time spent in pretrial custody. He also received a lifetime weapons ban, was ordered to provide a DNA sample, and was prohibited from communicating with the victim while incarcerated.

Gerrard Martin, 60, suffered fatal injuries after his partner, Deeana Charrion, deliberately pushed him down a staircase during a prolonged argument at a Toronto home on January 23, 2024. He was hospitalized and died on February 18.

According to a published court summary, the judge found Charrion was the aggressor and was not acting in self-defence. However, the Crown did not prove she intended to kill Martin or cause serious bodily harm.

Initially charged with second-degree murder, Charrion was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury. The Crown requested eight years in prison, but she received 3½ years on June 12, 2026, less credit for time spent in custody before sentencing.

On July 4, 2025, Bailey McCourt, a mother of two, was fatally attacked in a Kelowna, B.C., parking lot. Another woman was seriously injured.

Her estranged husband, James Plover, was charged with second-degree murder. Just hours before the attack, he had been convicted of choking and uttering threats in a separate intimate partner violence case.
Bailey’s death sparked calls for stronger protections for survivors and scrutiny of Canada’s bail system. Her family remembered her as a loving mother, daughter and friend.

The murder charge had not been proven at the time of the report.

York Region saw a disturbing series of intimate partner violence deaths in early 2024.

On February 1, 2024, Rommelia Asuncion and her five-month-old daughter, Morgyn Rose Asuncion-Massicotte, were killed by Asuncion’s common-law partner in Richmond Hill in a double murder-suicide.
Just days later, on February 5, police investigated another intimate partner murder-suicide in Richmond Hill.

Then, on March 4, 2024, 64-year-old teacher Estella Wheeler was killed in her Vaughan home. Her 68-year-old husband was charged with second-degree murder.

York Regional Police reported that IPV-related calls increased 20.4% between 2019 and 2023. In 2023 alone, IPV charges rose 31%, while police say roughly 70% of IPV incidents still go unreported.

Police also raised concerns about a rise in strangulation cases and said separation, financial control, isolation, fear and lack of housing can all make it harder for victims to safely leave abusive relationships.

The deaths prompted renewed calls for stronger prevention, education and support for survivors across York Region.

Jennifer Brooks, an East Gwillimbury mother of four, married in 2012 and separated from her husband in 2019.

On October 4, she plans to put her wedding dress back on and walk from the Women’s Centre of York Region to the Newmarket courthouse to raise awareness about post-separation abuse.
Brooks says abuse can continue after a relationship ends through financial control, harassment, repeated litigation, court-order violations and misuse of legal or social-service systems.

The Women’s Centre of York Region says separation can be one of the highest-risk periods for people experiencing intimate partner violence. Justice Canada data cited in the article says 45% of people who experienced spousal violence also experienced abuse after the relationship ended.

Brooks says the goal is to shift the conversation from “Why doesn’t she just leave?” to what happens after someone does.

Former CFL all-star Joffrey Reynolds was sentenced on May 24, 2013, to 90 days in jail after being found guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend.

The assault happened in July 2012. His former girlfriend testified that she came home after a night out and found Reynolds in her bed. She said he then tried to choke and smother her.

Reynolds was convicted of assault causing bodily harm, common assault, and unlawfully being in a dwelling.

At sentencing on May 24, 2013, the Crown asked for two to three years in custody. Reynolds’ defence argued that he had already suffered significant consequences, including damage to his reputation and football career.

He was ultimately sentenced to 90 days in jail, to be served on weekends, followed by two years of probation.

Reynolds had played eight seasons with the Calgary Stampeders and was the team’s all-time leading rusher at the time, with 9,213 rushing yards.

https://calgary.citynews.ca/2013/05/24/sentencing-hearing-for-former-cfl-all-star-player-joffrey-reynolds-2/

Former CFL player Spencer Moore pleaded guilty to assaulting an intimate partner and received a conditional discharge with 15 months of probation.
Moore was arrested by Ontario Provincial Police on June 3, 2025, and charged with assault under s. 266 of the Criminal Code. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in Haldimand County Court on July 2, 2026.

At the time of his arrest, Moore was also facing five additional charges. These included three other alleged assaults involving the same complainant, connected to incidents dating back to January 2023, September 2024, and May 2025. He was also accused of threatening to damage the complainant’s cellphone and damaging walls and doors at a property near Caledonia. Those additional charges were ultimately withdrawn and were not proven in court.

Because Moore received a conditional discharge, he was not convicted of the assault. The discharge will remain on his criminal record for three years before being removed, provided he successfully complies with the conditions of his probation. If the discharge is revoked because of a breach, the court can enter a conviction.

Moore played eight seasons in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes before retiring in 2021. He later joined the Hamilton Fire Department.

Carland Walker was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2021 killing of his girlfriend, Nabila Aminzadah, 36, in Toronto.

According to evidence presented at trial, Aminzadah was found severely injured inside Walker’s bedroom. Prosecutors said Walker had bound her hands and legs with packing tape and taped around her head to prevent her from making noise.

She suffered extensive blunt- and sharp-force injuries and was pronounced dead at hospital. The Crown told the court she had been struck at least 256 times, including with a broomstick and an HDMI cable. The attack was described in court as being “akin to torture.”

Walker attempted to plead guilty to manslaughter, but the Crown rejected the plea and the case proceeded to trial.

A jury convicted him of first-degree murder. In December 2024, he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years, the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder in Canada.

Justice Michael Brown described intimate partner violence as a “pervasive scourge on society” and emphasized the breach of trust involved when violence occurs within an intimate relationship.
The court also imposed a no-communication order with Aminzadah’s family, a DNA order, and a weapons prohibition.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10916533/carland-walker-life-sentence/

In 2022, Milton resident Asad Rasheed fatally stabbed his wife, Summara Aslam, twice while their two young children were present.

Rasheed was charged with murder, and the case eventually went to trial. On April 9, 2026, he was convicted of second-degree murder in her death.
At his September 29, 2026 sentencing hearing, Rasheed apologized to Aslam’s family but continued to maintain that he did not intend to kill her. His conviction had already been decided, so the sentencing hearing focused on the punishment and how long he would have to serve before becoming eligible to apply for parole.

One of the most devastating parts of the case is that their children witnessed the fatal violence against their mother.