MANDEL: Teen daughter bravely faces killer dad at sentencing for mom's murder
It was a stunning act of courage from an orphaned child.
The girl — just 13, clear-eyed and steadfast — strode to the witness box with nary a glance at her lumpen father in his ill-fitting grey suit, the man convicted of stabbing her beloved mother more than four dozen times.
'I am Tracy Iannuccilli's daughter,' began K.B., her name protected by a publication ban. And how telling that this pretty child, in the floral dress with blond hair like her mom, identifies herself as the child of her slain mother — and not of her killer father Kenneth Bellamy.
'I was 12 when the incident happened on June 30, 2023. I was mortified. I wanted to disappear. Not like killing myself — but to be wiped off the face of this planet,' she recalled.
'This has impacted me horribly, emotionally and physically. I remember having nightmares for weeks about what happened and the scene would keep replaying in my head — it still does.'
Her 44-year-old mom was murdered in the North York hotel that had been converted into a homeless shelter. Bellamy told the jury it was an accident after Iannuccilli lunged for a knife, a preposterous story jurors rejected by quickly convicted him of second-degree murder in February.
He faces an automatic life sentence and the only question to be determined by Superior Court Justice Kelly Byrne is how long before he can apply for parole.
Crown attorney Kene Canton argued it should be 17 years — the top of the current range of 12 to 17 years for a domestic murder. Defence lawyer Kristen Dulysh said 12 years was more appropriate.
'The level of brutality is shocking,' the prosecutor said. 'Including the superficial and puncture wounds, there were about 49 stab wounds, the majority of which were to her face and neck in what can only have been a persistent, prolonged and truly horrific attack with a knife on someone who was defenceless.'
Instead of getting her help, Bellamy barricaded the door and stuffed her body beneath the bathroom sink.
It also wasn't the first time he'd harmed her. Canton told the court Bellamy has a conviction for assaulting Iannuccilli in 2017.
Now their two children — there is also a five-year-old son — are being raised by their grandparents, their retirement plans and savings slipping away.
'For 15 years, Ken Bellamy was included in all family celebrations — birthday, Christmas, Easter, Sunday dinners,' Iannuccilli's 73-year-old father Fred wrote in his victim impact statement.
'It was obvious that Ken was a bad fit into the home and family of a veteran 36-year Toronto Police officer; he was given the benefit of the doubt. We were naive enough to believe he could change.'
Instead, they blame Bellamy for drawing Iannuccilli into drug addiction after she went into a deep depression following the birth of their stillborn son in 2015.
Her dad believed the 'apple of his eye' could fight her way out: She'd just applied for a new job and was excited about moving into an apartment. 'A day later we learned she was dead, our hopes of her recovery ended.'
The vicious, heartless murder leaves behind a daughter who looks ahead at all of life's milestones she and her little brother will face alone. 'When I graduate this year, I won't be able to look at her from the crowd when I'm walking up on stage.'
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Thanks to her dad. But she didn't address her father at all. It was her cousin who uttered the harshest words in his direction.
'You have committed the most cowardly act possible, abandoning your two sweet, loving children and massacring your wife. You took away my aunt's chance at getting her children and family back,' said Sarah-Mae Iannuccilli.
'Due to your selfish, drug-fueled rage, I will never see her again. I will never get to tell her about my life. Worst of all, your daughter will live her life with a dead mother and a murderer for a father.'
The poised young woman then cursed the man who brought so much pain to her family.
'I hope the thought of my aunt haunts you for the rest of your life,' she said fiercely. 'I hope that your cell is cold and lonely. I hope that you regret what you've done and see the life you missed out on.'
The judge will sentence Bellamy on May 30.
mmandel@postmedia.com
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