Man who ran over wife with loaded U-haul found guilty of manslaughter
Running over his wife with a loaded moving van after they'd been evicted from their home warranted a manslaughter conviction, Alberta's top court ruled Tuesday.
In a unanimous decision, a three-member Alberta Court of Appeal panel overturned Ronald Candaele's murder conviction in the Feb. 10, 2020 death of his wife, Melissa Rae Blommaert.
But in denying defence counsel Kim Ross and Alias Sanders's appeal of Candaele's second-degree murder conviction, the province's top court agreed the facts were as consistent with manslaughter.
Candaele ran over Blommaert on 34th Avenue N.W. after the couple got into an argument and she exited their rented U-haul van and ran down the street.
The appeal judges said the evidence did not establish the offender had the necessary intent for murder.
“While it is reasonable to infer from the totality of the evidence that Mr. Candaele deliberately accelerated toward Ms. Blommaert, that does not necessarily mean that he intended to run her down and kill her,” they said in their written ruling.
“It is equally reasonable to infer from the totality of the evidence that Mr. Candaele's intention was to bully and intimidate her to act as he wanted her to do. Ms. Blommaert was running in the middle of the snow-covered road. It was objectively foreseeable that as she was running, with the U-haul approaching from behind, she might slip and fall,” they said.
“If the U-haul was too close or going too fast, a reasonable person would have foreseen the risk of being unable to stop and running over her, which was likely to cause life-threatening injuries given the size and weight of the fully loaded vehicle.”
The three appeal justices, Dawn Pentelechuk, Kevin Feehan and Anne Kirker, said Candaele was entitled to the most favourable finding based on that evidence.
“There is a reasonable inference on the evidence, not merely speculative, which would point to unlawful act manslaughter equally with second-degree murder. Mr. Candaele is to be given the reasonable benefit of the doubt that he was reckless in his unlawful act of dangerous driving, but did not have the intention for murder.”
They ordered Candaele's case returned to Calgary Court of King's Bench so he can be re-sentenced on the lesser charge.
Ross and Sanders had argued the evidence could have supported a conclusion the death of Blommaert was merely an accident, arguing she could have slipped on the snowy roadway as Candaele drove by, but the appeal judges disagreed.
Court of King's Bench Justice Blair Nixon had found Candaele intentionally ran over his wife, finding him guilty of second-degree murder.
Nixon handed Candaele a mandatory life sentence without the chance for parole for a minimum 16 years.
The punishment for manslaughter can range from probation to a life sentence, but neither extreme is likely.
Candaele remains in custody pending his sentence.