Godfrey Sig-Od, the Toronto man who stabbed his ex-wife and daughter to death on Bathurst Street near Ellerslie Avenue on the afternoon of Aug. 26, 2022, has been found guilty of the first-degree murder of his ex-wife Elvie Sig-Od. With regards to his daughter, Angelica Sig-Od, the jury found him not guilty of first-degree murder but guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
The verdict was read out in a downtown Toronto courtroom just before 7:30 p.m. Saturday, after three days of deliberations.
The guilty verdict with regards to the first-degree murder meant the jury agreed with assistant Crown attorneys Rochelle Liberman and Victoria Di Iorio, who argued that Godfrey Sig-Od Godfrey, 48, carried out his plan to kill 44-year-old Elvie Sig-Od. The guilty finding with regards to the second-degree murder of the couple’s 20-year-old daughter Angelica meant they do not believe Sig-Od planned to kill his daughter but had to have known he was going to cause her bodily harm, if not death, by stabbing her repeatedly.
Elvie Sig-Od was stabbed or cut 14 times, and Angelica 19 times. The knife attack horrified motorists who testified about witnessing the shocking stabbing on the side of the road in Toronto. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
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Liberman told jurors during her closing address Wednesday that Godfrey Sig-Od tried to get his ex-wife and daughter alone for months in order to carry out his plan. She suggested that Sig-Od changed his strategy when he realized they were unwilling to invite him to their home.
“He started inviting them to restaurants, he also started telling them to come to his boarding house to pick up money for various things and, on the day he killed them, he sent 79 messages to Elvie and sent 15 to Angelica,” Liberman told the jury.
She said Sig-Od lured them to his boarding house that day using every excuse he could think of.
“I submit to you he really wanted them to be together but had limited options about where to carry out the plan. He couldn’t carry out the plan at Elvie and Angelica’s residence because he didn’t know where they lived,” Liberman said.
“And so, the car ended up being the best option for Mr. Sig-Od to carry out his plan. Elvie was driving, Angelica was in the front passenger seat. Therefore, their backs were to Mr. Sig-Od. The car was a confined space and while they were driving, there was nowhere for them to go.”
The Crown said Sig-Od carried out the plan after realizing that there was no hope in getting his family back together and that his daughter no longer cared about his side of the family.
Liberman argued that Sig-Od’s evidence that he was in a rage and did not remember stabbing his ex-wife and daughter should not be believed.
Defence lawyer Daniel Brodsky reminded the jury in his closing address that his client tried to plead guilty to manslaughter, admitting he killed his ex-wife and daughter. He then argued that Sig-Od did not plan nor deliberate the deadly attack.
“He will learn on your verdict as to whether he is to be labelled by his fellow citizens as a cold-blooded murderer or a person who, in the absence of cool reflection, killed in hot blood,” Brodsky said.
He argued that his client was overtaken by a blind rage at the time of the fatal stabbing.
“In that uncontrollable state, he lashed out at his ex-wife and daughter unaware of the true extent of the harm he was causing,” Brodsky added.
First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. Second-degree murder is a life sentence with a parole ineligibility period of between ten and 25 years.
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