Man convicted of ‘utterly brutal' murder of wife dies in B.C. prison

CTV News

2 days ago

An Ontario man sentenced to life behind bars for what the sentencing judge described as a 'brutal and vicious domestic homicide' has died in a B.C. prison.
Nelson Tayongtong, 52, was incarcerated at the Pacific Institution/Regional Treatment Centre in Abbotsford where he died of apparent natural causes over the weekend, according to a news release from the Correctional Service of Canada.
Tayongtong was convicted of second-degree murder in October of 2017 and would have been eligible for parole after 17 years, according to the decision on sentencing.
The court heard that Tayongtong stabbed his wife Aicha Saludares to death in their home on the morning of Sept. 8, 2012.
'The murder was as brutal as imaginable,' Justice Leonard Ricchetti wrote in his decision on parole eligibility, noting the victim had 138 'stab and incisive wounds' on her face, neck and body when she was found in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor of her home.
'The utterly brutal nature of the attack demonstrates a callous, personal animosity to Aicha,' the judge said.
The couple had been married for nine years but were separated at the time of the murder. The motive, according to the sentencing decision, was either anger over Saludares' having started a new relationship or a dispute over how to divide assets.
'In either case, Mr. Tayongtong's motive for committing the murder deserves strong denunciation by this court,' Ricchetti said.
In setting a parole eligibility at the 'top end of the range' Ricchetti laid out a number of aggravating factors, including that Saludares was murdered by her husband in her home where she should have been safe.
'I need not repeat the many comments of this court which recite and repeat the all too common societal problem of brutal domestic violence and the need to strongly deter and denounce such conduct in our society,' the judge said.
The fact that Tayongtong put the murder weapon in Saludares' hand before leaving the scene to 'suggest some fault or responsibility' on her part was also a factor.
'Whether this was a feeble attempt to try to establish Aicha was using a knife to instigate the attack or defend herself against an intruder is not clear on the evidence,' the sentencing decision said.
The extent of the violence inflicted on Saludares was also considered aggravating.
'This murder was carried out in the most brutal, cold-blooded and callous manner,' the judge said.
'It is simply impossible to imagine the amount of sheer hatred and drive that Mr. Tayongtong had that morning when he murdered Aicha.'
The Correctional Service of Canada will review the circumstances of Tayongtong's death, as it does whenever someone dies while in custody.