Nicole Campbell’s killer pleads guilty to manslaughter

Robert Jason MacKenzie has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Nicole Campbell.

Campbell’s family was in the Pictou Courthouse where MacKenzie appeared Monday, Dec. 17.

“Every day it’s affected every one of us, we have to live every day knowing that she’s not coming home,” said Anne Lawrence, Campbell’s aunt. “We were all close family. She was not just our niece, she was my daughter, she was our sister, she was everything.”

MacKenzie was first charged with second-degree murder in Campbell’s death on Dec. 30, 2015.

Robert Jason MacKenzie was charged in December 2015 for his role in Nicole Campbell’s death.

“Every day is just like three years ago,” said Lawrence. “We lived it and we’ve lived it. We need closure now. We need this all to end.”

There have been a number of delays in his case since then, and a trial by jury was finally expected to take place in January. Monday’s events changed that.

The guilty plea means MacKenzie will no longer be going to trial and that his next time in court will be for sentencing in February.

“I’m happy there’s not going to be a trial. All we want is to make sure that he gets the right amount of time in jail,” Lawrence said outside the court.

As a part of the Crown’s plea agreement with the defence, additional charges of robbery and possession of a weapon against MacKenzie have been dropped.

“She was a sweet girl; a loving girl,” Lawrence said. “She always had that smile even when she was so sad. She loved her kids. Her kids were her world. She had that chaos, she had her own problems, but she loved, loved, loved her family.”