Latest news with #MichaelAdenyi
CTV News
20-06-2025
- CTV News
Powerful message from murder victim Vanessa Ladouceur's mother
Calgary Watch Michael Adenyi has been found guilty of the first-degree murder of Vanessa Ladouceur, and the victim's mother delivered a powerful message in court Thursday.
CTV News
19-06-2025
- CTV News
‘I hope you remember her face': Mother addresses man who killed daughter in random Calgary stabbing
Michael Adenyi was found guilty of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Vanessa Ladouceur. (Court exhibit photo) It was a highly emotional day in court for the mother of Vanessa Ladouceur, who addressed Michael Adenyi, the man who stabbed her daughter to death in a random attack in Calgary's Beltline three years ago. A jury found Adenyi, 29, guilty of first-degree murder last month in the death of Ladouceur, 30, on March 18, 2022. He was captured on surveillance video around 6:30 a.m. following the woman for roughly two blocks while she walked to work at a fitness facility along 10th Avenue S.E. before tackling her into an alcove. She was stabbed eight times in 11 seconds with a large kitchen knife, with many blows to her head and neck. 'The fact you, Michael, just butchered her there and left her to die on the street like some animal is incomprehensible,' Erika Ladouceur said during sentencing submissions Thursday. 'I hope you remember her beautiful face every time you see the scars on your hand or look in the mirror and never get the chance to hurt someone else again.' She described the traumatic experience of identifying her daughter's body in the hospital after the attack. 'I remember just standing there not understanding why her beautiful blonde hair was red,' she recalled through sobs. 'The pain I feel every day since then is immeasurable.' Ladouceur was born and lived in Toronto but moved to Calgary with her mother and sister when she was around two years old. Her mother said her daughter had just moved into an apartment months before her death, loved the mountains and would paint portraits and landscapes. She said she was spiritual and passionate about poetry and politics. 'She was a deeply sensitive loving and giving person,' she said. 'She understood the importance of giving back and being humble.' Ladouceur's mother told the court her daughter also felt strongly about helping the homeless and improving animal welfare, recalling that she memorized Martin Luther King's famous 'I Had a Dream' speech. 'She wanted to make a difference in this world and was just fearless,' she said. ''Who am I without her? I will never see her walk down the aisle or hold my grandchild.' Adenyi sat listening in the prisoner's box and had no signs of emotion. 'All the dreams that I had as a mother for my child, destroyed in 12 seconds,' she said. 'Losing her is so profound it is impossible to put in words.' 'She was an innocent victim': Judge addresses Adenyi A conviction for first-degree murder in Canada carries a mandatory life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Justice Jane Sidnell also imposed a lifetime firearms ban, describing the crime against a stranger as 'heinous.' 'She was going to work and you took her life. You destroyed her life and it's obvious to me that you have also destroyed the life of those who knew it,' she told Adenyi. 'She was an innocent victim.' Adenyi's defence claimed he was in the midst of a psychotic episode and was not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. He told the court during the trial he was hallucinating and believed he was attacking animalistic and demonic creatures and told the jury he would take hour-long showers to drown out voices in his head. In May, a jury deliberated for 12 hours before rejecting the not criminally responsible plea and convicting him of first-degree murder. The defence said Adenyi showed all the hallmarks of schizophrenia and had been prescribed antipsychotic drugs, however, Crown prosecutors argued he lied to police and mental health professionals to avoid facing consequences for the killing. Throughout the five-week trial, the jury was shown disturbing and bizarre evidence, including two red notebooks found in a backpack Adenyi was seen on surveillance footage dumping in an alley garbage bin. The books included writings like 'Death Note,' 'Three people to kill,' and 'Beat three times, rape, torture.' Adenyi's internet search history also revealed searches for 'How strong is a human skull?' and 'How much blood loss can a person handle?' A small group of Adenyi's family was in court for the sentencing Thursday but declined to comment.
CTV News
02-05-2025
- CTV News
Closing arguments made in murder trial of man who stabbed Calgary woman downtown
There was a full gallery at the first-degree murder trial of Michael Adenyi on Thursday as his defence team and Crown prosecutors presented closing arguments to the jury. Adenyi, 29, is charged in the death of Vanessa Ladouceur, 30, in the Beltline on March 18, 2022. He was captured on surveillance video following the woman while she walked to work to a fitness facility along 10th Avenue S.E. around 6:30 a.m. before tackling her into an alcove and stabbing her eight times in 11 seconds. The jury is expected to receive instructions and begin deliberations Friday. Defence argues Adenyi not criminally responsible Defence lawyer Kim Ross told the jury there is no doubt his client caused the death of Ladouceur but argued he should be found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. 'The evidence is clear that Michael Adenyi was in the midst of a psychotic episode,' he told the court. Throughout the five-week trial, the jury heard from several witnesses, including the accused, who testified he was having audio and visual hallucinations leading up to and on the day of the attack. Adenyi said he thought he was being circled by animalistic creatures and that he had to attack or be killed and didn't realize until he cut himself that he was stabbing a person and not a demonic shadow. 'He was not lying to you. He was telling you the truth,' said Ross. Ross told the jury Adenyi shows all the hallmarks for schizophrenia and said his mental illness progressed between 2018 and 2022, citing testimony from his mother and sister about Adenyi talking to himself and seeing things that weren't there. The jury heard his parents also took him to see a psychiatrist at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre who diagnosed him with major depressive disorder and prescribed Prozac. 'Use your common sense,' he told the jury. 'They didn't do this for fun. They did this to try and help Michael.' Ross also referenced the psychiatrist who deemed Adenyi fit to stand trial also having concerns the accused suffered from an underlying psychotic illness. He argued the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the killing was planned and deliberate, which is required for a first-degree murder conviction in Canada. Crown maintains killing was planned, deliberate The Crown maintained the killing was planned and deliberate. 'Michael Adenyi saw Vanessa Ladouceur and he decided to kill her. I submit the Crown has proven beyond doubt this killing was intentional,' said prosecutor Carla Macphail. Macphail dismissed the idea that Adenyi was suffering from a psychotic break but rather 'outright untruths.' The Crown argued the accused's stories about hallucinations were 'made up after the fact' and corroborated by his family, who want to help him. The jury heard the accused followed the woman on his bike and then on foot and waited until cars had passed before tackling the victim out of sight. 'He pursued her until the right moment to attack her. He body-checked her into that alcove, taking her right off her feet, and stabbed her multiple times with that large knife he had with him that day,' the Crown said. Adenyi was later seen on surveillance footage without the jacket he was wearing during the attack, which the Crown argued is evidence he removed so he wouldn't get caught because he knew what he did was wrong. Macphail also referenced two red notebooks found in a backpack Adenyi was seen dumping in an alley garbage that included notes like 'Death Note,' 'Three people to kill' and 'beat three times, rape torture.' Ladouceur was stabbed eight times in 11 seconds, with many blows to the head and neck. Macphail argued Adenyi's internet search history also reflects plans to kill, including 'How strong is a human skull?' and 'How much blood loss can a person handle?' Vanessa Ladouceur (Erika Ladouceur) Vanessa Ladouceur (Erika Ladouceur) Family remembers Vanessa Ladouceur There was a full gallery Thursday for the closing arguments. The family of Ladouceur, including her mother, has been a steady presence in the courtroom gallery throughout the trial. Erika Ladouceur has described her daughter to CTV as very kind, spiritual, intelligent and an avid reader. Ladouceur was born and lived in Toronto but moved to Calgary with her mother and sister when she was around two years old. Adenyi's father and a small group of his family members have also been attending the trial, in addition to several members of the public.
