Man pleads guilty to murdering ex
Accused recorded former girlfriend asking him to end her chronic pain, court hears
Joseph D’Arcy Schluter video recorded his former girlfriend pleading with him to kill her and end her chronic pain.
Schluter then told Cindy Enger he loved her, put a rifle to the back of her head and pulled the trigger.
Those facts emerged from a Calgary courtroom Friday where Schluter, 47, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder.
The Carstairs man had been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Enger’s Jan. 22, 2016, killing in her Cranston home in southeast Calgary.
Schluter sat quietly in the prisoner’s box, his face turned away from his wife sitting in the courtroom gallery, as Crown prosecutor Mike Ewenson detailed the tragic case.
Reading from a statement of agreed facts signed by the killer and his lawyer, Steve Wojick, Ewenson told Justice Alan Macleod that Enger suffered from chronic pain, possibly related to a car accident.
Ewenson said Schluter and Enger had dated in the past, but he was married to his wife at the time of the killing.
“The accused stated that he regretted breaking up with Cindy and she was the best thing that ever happened to him,” the prosecutor said, quoting from a March 4, 2016, confession he gave to police.
Schluter said in December 2015, Enger reached out to him and they had begun spending time together in a platonic relationship.
Schluter said Enger confessed having attempted suicide by suffocation, but did not go through with it. She also spoke of thinking about jumping in front of a CTrain.
“Cindy indicated to the accused that she did not wish her death to look like a suicide and wanted her death to go unsolved,” the prosecutor told Macleod.
In early January, Schluter regularly visited Enger’s home, attempting to get her to change her mind about ending her life.
“She continually stated that she was suffering too much.”
Schluter eventually agreed to meet Enger at her home on the evening of Jan. 22, 2016, bringing with him a .22 calibre rifle.
“He tried to pick up her spirits by showing her an old journal of when they were happy together, but this did not change her mind,” Ewenson said.
“The accused then made a brief video recording of Cindy on a cellular phone he brought with him.
“In the video Cindy faces the camera and states that she wants to end her life due to her pain. During the video, the accused’s voice can be heard off camera telling Cindy that he loves her,” Ewenson said.
“Cindy replies that she loves him too before the video ends.”
The prosecutor said shortly after the video was recorded, Enger and Schluter went to her basement.
There, she knelt down on the floor in front of Schluter.
“He inserted ear plugs into his ears and said a prayer for forgiveness. The accused then took the .22 calibre firearm he had brought to the residence and placed the end of the barrel in very proximity to the back of Cindy’s head,” Ewenson said.
“He then pulled the trigger which discharged a round, killing Cindy.”
Schluter fired seven more shots to ensure she was dead, before leaving the residence with the firearm.
In proposing a joint submission for a life sentence without parole for a minimum 10 years, Wojick said the killing was a tragic one.
“It’s a case where emotion overwhelmed logic — as a result, Mr. Schluter made a tragic error in judgment.”
Macleod accepted the joint submission presented by counsel.