Northern Ontario man pleads guilty to trying to kill his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend with a sword
A man from the small northeastern Ontario town of Cobalt accused of trying to kill his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend with a sword has pleaded guilty. 20-year-old Phillipe Rivard Gagnon pleaded guilty to attempted murder in Haileybury court earlier this week.
20-year-old Phillipe Rivard Gagnon is set to return to court next month.
Erik White · CBC News
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WARNING: This story contains graphic details related to intimate partner violence
A man from the small northern Ontario town of Cobalt has pleaded guilty for attempting to murder his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend with a sword two years ago.
Phillipe Rivard Gagnon, now 20, entered the plea earlier this week at the Haileybury courthouse.
On the evening of Nov. 3, 2024, 16-year-old Kaylie Smith was on her way home from work and was getting off a transit bus in Cobalt when she was hit by an SUV.
Ontario Provincial Police say it was driven by Gagnon, who then attacked her with a sword.
In media interviews, Smith's family has said that one of Kaylie's hands was cut off and the other badly "mangled."
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Gagnon, who was 18 at the time of the attack, was arrested and charged with attempted murder and posessing a dangerous weapon.
He has been held in custody since then, being transported from the jail in North Bay to attend court appearances in Haileybury over the past two years.
In his most recent appearance on Tuesday, Gagnon entered a plea of guilty on the attempted murder charge.
His weapons charge remains on the books and is expected to be dealt with by the courts in the coming months.
A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled, but the case is slated to be back in Haileybury court on Sept. 16.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Erik White is a CBC journalist based in Sudbury. He covers a wide range of stories about northern Ontario. Send story ideas to erik.white@cbc.ca
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