‘Your grief will be forever’

Shane Shakeshaft pleads guilty to second-degree murder of Jenna Gazzola; sentenced to life in prison

Sometimes a courtroom isn’t big enough to contain the grief that fills it.

There are times when the pain and horror of a case leaks into the lawyers and cops and even the judge as they watch good people struggle to survive the cruelest of crimes.

As the family of Jenna Gazzola lined row after row behind the man who raped and murdered her, it was clear this would be gut-wrenching.

There is no doubt Shane Shakeshaft, who lived on the same floor as Jenna in her Forest Avenue apartment building, broke into her place, lay in wait for her, beat her, repeatedly raped her, strangled and killed her. His DNA was everywhere.

He was charged with first-degree murder. Factually and legally, that made sense because the murder was planned and involved sexual assault.

But on Thursday, Shakeshaft, 30, pleaded to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 and a half years. The Gazzola family — many of them police officers — agreed to this deal. They did so, court heard, because it would spare them having to sit through a long trial and hearing in excruciating detail the things done to Jenna.

And it would save them from an appeal.

There was also the possibility Shakeshaft would be found not criminally responsible due to mental illness and be sent to a hospital rather than a prison.

A psychiatrist assessed Shakeshaft and concluded he was criminally responsible, but there was a chance a second opinion might have different results.

So the Gazzolas made a very difficult decision.

Jenna, 34, was a teacher at St. Charles Adult Learning Centre. She was single and lived alone.

At 10:45 a.m. on Monday, April 18, 2016, the building superintendent went to Jenna’s apartment to return her dog, which was found wandering the afternoon before. It took awhile to figure out who it belonged to.

He found Jenna’s door forced open. He went in and, according to an agreed statement of facts, saw Shakeshaft unresponsive on the living room couch, pill bottles scattered around him. He had taken anti-anxiety medication and drank a bottle of alcohol.

Police believe Jenna arrived home and was attacked just inside her door. Officers called to the scene saw bloody clothing in the living room and a trail of blood into the bedroom, where they found Jenna.

She was partially nude, face down on the bed. An electrical cord was wrapped around her neck and a sex toy was near her body.

Investigators believe she was sexually assaulted before her death and possibly during or after her murder. The bed, floor and Jenna were blood-soaked.

On top of the bed was Jenna’s laptop. Records show 300 searches for pornography during an hour before the murder and several hours afterwards. Porn was also watched on Jenna’s TV.

“Many of the titles indicate violent porn,” according to the agreed facts. “In one video there is a scene in which the female victim is raped with a leash or cord wrapped around her neck.”

Until that day, no porn had ever been accessed on Jenna’s accounts.

An autopsy found injuries to her neck, abdomen and genitalia. Her head was bruised and her jaw broken. Most of the injuries were caused while she was alive.

Cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma to her head and abdomen.

Shakeshaft couldn’t be woken and was taken to hospital. He wore only socks and Jenna’s bathrobe.

Shakeshaft’s father told police he hadn’t seen his son since Sunday around noon, about the same time a friend of Jenna’s spoke to her by phone.

He was known as “the creepy guy” in the building.

One woman believed he drew a penis on her apartment door a few months before the murder.

On the day of the murder, Shakeshaft asked another woman if she lived alone and was single.

Jenna told a co-worker about “a creepy guy” on her floor.

Shakeshaft told police Jenna was his girlfriend and she invited him into her apartment on the day of the murder. He said a “mystery man” then showed up.

There is no evidence any of that is true.

Shakeshaft’s DNA was found on the sex toy, the electrical cord, and more than a dozen other places including inside Jenna’s body and under her fingernails.

There was no one in court to support Shakeshaft, apart from his lawyer, Beth Bromberg.

He sat quietly in the prisoner’s box, legs shackled, dark hair neatly groomed, wearing black pants and a white dress shirt.

Bromberg informed court that while her client admits to the evidence, he has no “clear recollection” of what happened.

Bromberg offered a grim account of her client’s background.

Born in Truro, Nova Scotia, Shakeshaft lived with his mother who was mentally ill. She was frequently hospitalized and attempted suicide numerous times. When his mother was unwell, Shakeshaft lived with his maternal grandmother, who also had mental illness.

When Shakeshaft was 10, his mother requested counselling for his anger issues. Medical records show appointments were made, but never kept.

His mother hanged herself in a closet when Shakeshaft was 11. A year later, his grandmother also died by suicide.

Shakeshaft went to live with his father who worked nights, leaving his son home alone.

Shakeshaft had been in special classes because of a learning disability. He missed a great deal of school when his mother was alive. After her suicide, he

“No forgiveness will ever be given. No apology will ever be accepted.” MARINO GAZZOLA

Jenna Gazzola’s father

stopped going altogether. He has a Grade 6 education.

He was also sexually abused as a child, by someone outside the family, court heard.

In 2014, Shakeshaft and his father moved to Hamilton. They lived in poverty.

Bromberg emphasized her client is not offering excuses for his crime.

“However, I question whether things might have been different if the young Shane Shakeshaft had received the care, education and treatment he needed and that all children should have.”

Shakeshaft is diagnosed with a paranoid and antisocial personality disorder and a substance use disorder. He had no previous criminal record to speak of.

Assistant Crown attorney Craig Fraser spoke to the court about “the viciousness of the murder” and “the utter devastation of this (Gazzola) family.” “It really is beyond words.” Justice Harrison Arrell seemed to struggle with his own emotions at times.

“It’s hard for this court to imagine the horror, pain and fear the victim must have endured during this long and vicious attack. … There is nothing I can do to ease your pain or bring back your daughter. Your grief will be forever.”

Shakeshaft, who wept as others spoke, stood and read from a sheet of paper: “I have an apology. I don’t know any words big enough to say how sorry I am for what I have done.”

There is sorry. Then there is sorrow.

“Knowing that a man was capable of inflicting this much pain, suffering and horror,” said Laurie Gazzola, Jenna’s mother. “We are still very much trying to find our way out of the darkness.”

The words of Marino Gazzola, Jenna’s father and a retired police officer, were sparse and strong.

“No forgiveness will ever be given. No apology will ever be accepted.”