Life sentence
Victim impact statements entered at sentencing of Kate Reid’s killer
KITCHENER — Teary-eyed family members of murdered Kitchener woman Kate Reid read emotional victim impact statements at her killer’s sentencing hearing on Friday.
“She’s the person I would call in crisis and the person I’d call when I don’t know how to cook eggs,” her only child, Geneva Reid, 19, said in court.
“But now who’ll be my person? Who’ll help me through everything?
“I feel so lost and so angry,” she said.
“I miss her and I want her back and I know that can’t happen.”
Hugh McColl, 63, convicted by a jury of second-degree murder, will serve a life sentence with no eligibility for parole for 13 years from the date he was arrested in 2015, Justice Gerry Taylor ruled.
On Jan. 2, 2015, McColl, who sublet a room in Reid’s apartment on Burn Place, struck Reid, 51, in the head with a hammer as many as 14 times and then concealed her body on the balcony, where it froze.
In late January, he tossed her body off the balcony, dragged it near a dumpster and covered it with snow. Her body was not found until March 20, 2015.
“No one could have guessed that a murder would have been the outcome of Kate placing her ad for a roommate,” said Kate’s sister, Leslie Reid.
In addition to the life sentence for murder, McColl got a two-year prison sentence, to be served concurrently, for causing an indignity to Reid’s body.
“The murder of Kate Reid was horrific,” Taylor said. “She was subject to a brutal attack.”
The judge said the motivation for the murder is unknown, although McColl admitted using her credit card and stealing her TV after killing her.
Taylor said he completely rejected McColl’s story that Reid came at him with a hunting knife and he hit her in self-defence.
After he murdered Reid, McColl told her
daughter she had gone to her native New Brunswick. He then went about trying to cover up the crime, cutting up bloody parts of the couch and disposing of all of her belongings. He even gave her cat away.
“Fifty-one years of memories, pictures and treasures thrown in the trash as garbage,” said Leslie Reid, addressing McColl. “A small, red recipe book that Kate began when she was 13, filled with notes from her grandmother, is now lost forever because you wanted to erase a life.
“For selfless reasons, you, Mr. McColl, not only killed my sister but you also murdered any chance of my family keeping a single physical reminder of Kate’s life in Ontario.”
Crown prosecutor Vlatko Karadzic had asked for parole ineligibility set at 15 to 16 years. Defence lawyer James Marentette sought 10 to 13 years. Four jurors had recommended 12 years, one suggested 17 and one sought 20. The other jurors had no recommendation.
Ten years is the minimum for second-degree murder, and 25 is the maximum.
McColl was ordered to give a DNA sample and have no contact with Reid’s family. He is barred from owning firearms for 10 years after his release from prison.
A former film producer with balding grey hair and glasses, McColl walked into court in a suit jacket, handcuffs and leg shackles.
“I would like to say to the family of Kate Reid, I am truly sorry that I took her away from you,” said McColl, the son of a former minister at First United Church in Waterloo. “I hope at some point, the family will find it in their hearts to forgive me.”
McColl has advanced prostate cancer and told the author of a presentence report he’s not sure he’ll live to see the day when he’s eligible for parole.
Karadzic, the prosecutor, said the only person McColl feels sad about is himself.
Reid, who struggled with mental health and addiction issues, was a former waitress who was on disability support. Daughter Geneva often lived with one of Reid’s sisters.
Geneva said in her statement: “My mom told me the whole time growing up that life was unfair, but I never really knew what she meant until she was gone. And she’s gone. And saying those words breaks my heart.”
She said her mother was her best friend.
“I think of my mom daily. I leave my house and I think I see her. I think I see her everywhere. I still think I’m going to get a phone call from her saying, ‘I’ve been here all along.’ ”
Geneva said her mom, whom she called brilliant and kind-hearted, dreamed her daughter would make it to university. And she did.
“I worked so hard and my mom will never see it. I’ll never hear her tell me how proud she is of my accomplishments. She’ll never see the woman that I’ve become or the woman I’m going to be.”
She said McColl’s actions have caused her nightmares.
“He took away my sense of security and now I’m so scared. I used to think murders were only something that happened in the movies, but now I know they’re not.”