A Toronto woman who testified she stabbed her estranged boyfriend in self-defence two years ago has been found guilty of second-degree murder.
Mckenzie Gill hugged her lawyer and wiped away tears as Superior Court Justice Vanessa Christie explained why she rejected Gill’s testimony and found her guilty of murdering 36-year-old Blake Bibby.
“The court is fully satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Gill knew that by plunging a blade into Mr. Bibby’s chest in the area of his heart, she intended to cause him bodily harm that was likely to cause death and was reckless as to whether he died or not,” Christie said, explaining any concerns Gill had about Bibby’s life, came after the fact.
Court heard that the couple had been in and on-and-off again relationship since February 2022, and all parties agreed it was volatile and violent.
Bibby had been charged with assaulting Gill three times and she had been charged with assaulting him once, after punching him and throwing a phone case at him in June 2023.
On July 14, 2024, Gill and Bibby were at Bibby’s apartment on Millard Avenue in Newmarket. At the time, Bibby was subject to two court orders that prohibited him having contact with Gill.
Gill admitted to stabbing Bibby once in the chest with a kitchen knife. She called 911 and lied about her identity and about what happened, before fleeing the scene. She was arrested two days later.
Christie was satisfied that there was a great deal of violence in the relationship, that Gill suffered abuse at the hands of Bibby and said there was abundant evidence that Bibby was the primary perpetrator of the violence.
According to an agreed statement of facts, in October 2022, Gill acted in self-defence when she stabbed Bibby in the shoulder after she was injured that day.
Get daily National news
He also had a history of violence towards other women including his own grandmother.
Christie said she had concerns about Gill’s credibility in general finding that she gave several versions of the events to various people.
“Ms. Gill claimed she didn’t want to hurt Mr. Bibby in any way, she wanted to leave and this happened. The court finds she had numerous opportunities to leave,” said Christie.
The judge also found that Gill’s statements to 911 operators were misleading, despite the fact she called to obtain medical assistance.
“She didn’t advise 911 it was a stab wound to the chest,” said Christie, explaining she told the operator he got into a fight and was bleeding. “The obvious urgency was not being conveyed to 911.”
While defence pointed out that Gill provided her phone number and was panicked, the judge found there were no obvious signs of panic and fear on the call.
“Her tone is chilling and lacks any emotion. At one point, she laughs with a chuckle,” Christie said when the operator asked how Bibby appeared.
She compared Gill’s demeanour to the 911 call in October 2022 where she had been attacked and was acting in self-defence.
Christie found that a picture emerged of Gill’s jealousy and rage towards Bibby on that day, after being taunted by Bibby about sleeping with other women.
“Other than some red marks on Ms. Gill’s arm, elbow area captured in photographs several days later, there were no injuries to Ms. Gill. It seems quite unlikely that Ms. Gill would almost entirely avoid injury if her version of events were true,” Christie said.
Christie said having considered the entirety of the circumstances, she accepts that there was no force used or threatened by Bibby.
“This was a verbal argument. She was not in fear, she was furious,” said the judge.
The judge said while she accepted that there was a violent history between the Bibby and Gill and this prior history which informs the perception on the threat on her life, she did not accept her version of events.
“This court simply does not accept Ms. Gill’s version of events and it does not leave this court with any doubt. Ms. Gill did not believe on reasonable grounds or otherwise that force was being used or threatened against her. She was furious. She reached her breaking point. She reacted with a knife. On this basis alone, the Crown has disproven self-defence beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Christie.
On finding that Gill was guilty of murder, the judge said that the argument escalated to jealous rage and vengeance and the only use of force that was imminent was Bibby threatening to harm himself.
Christie said that her violent response in stabbing him in the chest rather than leaving when she had the opportunity was not reasonable in the circumstances.
“She was at her limit. She was at her capacity. Even by Ms. Gill’s account, Mr. Bibby never directly threatened her with a weapon. This court is fully satisfied that Ms. Gill was the only violent person in that moment,” said Christie, calling it an overreaction.
“She said he attacked her and she believed he was going to strangle her as he came towards her, with no weapon of his own. She grabbed the knife, changed hands and stabbed him,” said Christie.
The judge found it was a deep plunge into the chest and said her conduct was not reasonable in the circumstances.
“She blatantly violated her own no-contact order and facilitated the violation of Mr. Bibby’s no-contact orders,” said Christie, finding that she was not demonstrating fear, but rather anger and frustration.
“Ms. Gill was furious in that final moment and she simply had had enough of Mr. Bibby. After all the history between them and this full day of taunting, in the circumstances of this case, a single stab wound was not reasonable,” she added.
At the end of the hearing, Gill’s bail was revoked. A date for sentencing has yet to be set.
Comments
Comments closed.
Due to the sensitive and/or legal subject matter of some of the content on globalnews.ca, we reserve the ability to disable comments from time to time.
Please see our Commenting Policy for more.