Man pleads guilty to killing woman
Admits strangling girlfriend’s mother in furious drunken attack
Richard Scott Raymond answered the door wearing no pants, with his girlfriend’s mom lying lifeless and half-naked on the floor behind him.
Worried friends of Carol Shaw stumbled across that horrific scene when they pounded on her apartment door after receiving text messages that Raymond was there causing trouble.
Raymond pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder for strangling and beating Shaw, 49, to death.
He was originally charged with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault in the February 2015 slaying, which followed a drunken fight with the victim’s daughter.
The day after police found Shaw dead in her Bruce Avenue apartment with Raymond still there wearing only a T-shirt, he told investigators in a videotaped statement that he had no memory of what happened.
“It was a very credible videotaped statement in that regard,” said defence lawyer Brian Dube. “That’s not to say he didn’t have the required intent at the time of the incident for second-degree murder, but his lack of memory, his high blood-alcohol content — he was captured on surveillance video in an extremely intoxicated state. That all went to what were very triable issues on intent. However, of course, there’s always evidence to the contrary, which we were struggling with.”
The causes of death were strangulation and blunt-force trauma. Assistant Crown attorney Walter Costa said in court that an autopsy revealed Shaw suffered bluntforce injuries to her head, scalp, face, arms, legs and genitals. The injuries came from “multiple impacts.” She also had bruising all over her body.
The tragic chain of events began around 6 p.m. on Feb. 23, 2015. Raymond got into a drunken fight with his girlfriend, Crystal Shaw. The police were called, but Raymond left before they arrived. Officers sent out a message that if Raymond was found, he was to be arrested on an assault charge.
Shortly after, Crystal received a text message from her mother saying that Raymond was at her apartment and breaking things. Shaw told her daughter to come over. About 10 minutes later, Shaw sent her daughter another text saying Raymond was standing there “with no pants on.” That text was the last communication she had with her daughter.
But Shaw also reached out to a friend asking for help. That friend and another person knocked on her door around 7 p.m. Raymond’s response from inside the apartment was “(expletive) off, we’re having sex,” court heard Monday.
When he finally opened the apartment door, he wasn’t wearing pants. Shaw was behind him lying motionless on the floor. She was also naked from the waist down.
The two friends pushed their way into the apartment and a violent fight broke out. They screamed out for someone to call police. Emergency crews, arriving around 7:15 p.m., found Shaw dead from “obvious trauma.” The apartment was a mess and clumps of her hair were on the carpet.
While Dube acknowledged in court there was a “sexual aspect” to the attack, the aggravated sexual assault charge was withdrawn Monday after Raymond pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
“It’s obviously a tough thing for him to do,” Dube said of the guilty plea. “But he made that decision some time ago and he’s committed to that decision.”
Raymond is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 4.