McDonald gets 10 years for manslaughter
Corrine Burns, 29, was found dead in a Guelph park in 2008; McDonald had faced first-degree murder charge
GUELPH — The nightmare is finally over for the family of Corrine Burns.
Nearly 10 years after the 29-year-old Guelph woman was found dead in Norm Jary Park, her killer, Christopher McDonald pleaded guilty to his part in taking Burns’ life.
McDonald was originally charged with first-degree murder, but on Wednesday afternoon at Guelph Superior Court of Justice, the 43-year-old was convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Mary Tyrell, Burns’ mother, said the past 10 years of her life have been “a nightmare” she hasn’t been able to wake up from. In her victim impact statement that was read before the court, she said since her daughter’s death, her life has been a long and tortuous journey.
“There is a hole in my heart that will never be filled,” she wrote. “To lose a daughter is bad enough but to hear how she died will haunt me to my dying day. I wouldn’t wish these last 10 years on my worst enemy.”
In 2012, McDonald was found guilty of first-degree murder in Burns’ death after a four-week trial in Guelph, but that conviction was overturned in 2017 and a retrial was ordered. Tyrell sat through that first trial and did what she could not to look at the photos of her daughter after the attack when they were displayed in court.
Up until Wednesday, McDonald was facing a charge of first-degree murder and was scheduled to have a trial by jury starting on May 7. That trial was to be held in Owen Sound to allow for a jury to be selected that wasn’t influenced by the first murder trial in 2012.
In the agreed statement of facts, the doctor who performed Burns’ autopsy said a quantity of cocaine was found in her system. He said the exact cause of her death was not determined: it could have been caused by blunt force trauma to the head, cocaine toxicity or “a combination thereof.”
Forensic pathologist Christopher Milroy reviewed the post-mortem report, photographs and testimony and concluded that “the medical findings are most in keeping with death caused by blows to the head in association with cocaine toxicity.”
The courtroom was mostly empty on Wednesday, except for three members of Burns’ family; Tyrell, Burns’ sister Candice Griffin, and her uncle.
When McDonald was given the chance to address the court, he stood up and said “I’m sorry for my actions,” looking forward the entire time. Through the proceedings he did not make eye contact with Burns’ family, who were seated near the back of the room.
Defence attorney Phil Campbell said McDonald “understands he’s not suited and he’s not safe to live in the community now.” His previous acts of violence occurred when he drank alcohol and he knows he must stop this if he hopes to have a decent life, he said, adding McDonald’s goal was to one day return to society.
When the hearing was over and McDonald was led away by officers, Tyrell said his apology and the fact that he admitted to killing her daughter did provide her with a sense of closure.
“We don’t have to hear it again and he can’t appeal it, because he admitted it,” she said. “I really needed to hear that.”
Griffin said she’ll remember her sister as a unique person with “an expansive personality and infectious laugh,” but also as “someone who suffered for the majority of her life with schizoaffective disorder, a debilitating mental illness that slowly chipped away at her self-confidence and independence.”
In her victim impact statement she also highlighted her sister’s struggles with addiction — how Burns actively tried to get clean by attending rehab or narcotics anonymous meetings, “but this was a monster that held her tightly in its grip.”
After the hearing, Griffin said close friends of her sister who were also struggling with addiction were able to turn their lives around because of what happened to Burns.
She said this gave her some comfort, and highlighted this in her victim impact statement, writing: “When she was alive Cori would do anything to help those around her, and in her death she ended up changing people’s lives.”
Justice Durno said McDonald’s history of violence against women was “disturbing” and this played a role in determining the sentence he received. The 10-year sentence was recommended by both defence attorney Campbell and Crowns Catherine Rhinelander and Emma Haydon.
Durno said this sentence was to be served consecutively, following the 10 years he’s currently serving for an aggravated assault and sexual assault in Barrie in June 2009. That crime left a local woman in her 40s with a broken nose, cheek bones and teeth, as well as a fractured skull. That sentence is to end in 2023.
In 2013, McDonald was declared a dangerous offender in connection with the Barrie assault. At the end of his prison term in 2033, he’ll be under a long-term supervision order until 2043.
Leaving the courtroom, Tyrell said she hopes to find some sense of closure now, knowing she doesn’t have to return to court, that justice has been served and her daughter can finally rest in peace.