Crown drops petty crimes against killer
Confessed murderer Angela April Walsh, 24, of Fredericton, had been accused of shoplifting, fraud, but prosecution withdrew the four-year-old charges Thursday
The prosecution withdrew three minor charges Thursday dating from 2019 against a Fredericton woman awaiting sentencing in two weeks’ time for second-degree murder.
Angela April Walsh, 24, formerly of Kings College Road, was scheduled to stand trial in provincial court Thursday on three summary counts: stealing from the southside Walmart on Feb. 9, 2019; defrauding Sebastien Taviss of money between July 8-9, 2019; and failing to attend court Sept. 9, 2019.
Walsh appeared in court by video from a remand facility rather than in person, because the trial didn’t proceed.
“I’m withdrawing all three [charges],” said prosecutor Nina Johnsen.
Johnsen noted Fredericton defence lawyer T.J. Burke had been counsel of record on the minor charges as well as a more serious matter.
Johnsen said she’d spoken with Burke, who told her there was some confusion as to whether he was counsel on the lesser charges. But given the Crown’s plan to withdraw the charges, the prosecutor said, it was a moot point.
Walsh remains in custody because she’s awaiting sentencing May 11 for second-degree murder.
She killed Clark Ernest Hunter Greene, 31, in Wilmot Park in Fredericton on April 15, 2020.
Walsh had been scheduled to stand trial before a Court of King’s Bench judge and jury in January on a count of first-degree murder.
Early in her trial, the jury heard from Walsh’s spouse, Zachery David Murphy, 23.
He’d also been charged with first-degree murder in Greene’s death, but he previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was to be a key witness at Walsh’s trial.
But in January, he changed his story on the witness stand. He’d previously told police he’d struck Greene with a pipe, incapacitating him, and that Walsh had stabbed him repeatedly.
But at Walsh’s trial, he testified he’d stabbed Greene and didn’t know where she was when he did so.
That led to a stop to the trial and discussions between the prosecution and Walsh’s defence counsel, after which Walsh pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
An agreed statement of facts was filed with the court, in which Walsh admitted she’d lured Greene to the park in the early-morning hours of April 15, 2020, that Murphy had struck him in the head with a pipe, and that she had stabbed the victim repeatedly in the chest and face.
A passerby discovered Greene’s body at the Wilmot Park gazebo later that morning and called police.
There’s only one sentence under the Criminal Code of Canada for second-degree murder: life in prison. However, the court still has to determine when Walsh will first be allowed to apply for parole.
The earliest the court can allow parole eligibility is after 10 years, and the longest it can make the killer wait is 25 years.
It should be noted that parole eligibility doesn’t mean the granting of parole, only the chance to apply to the Parole Board of Canada to consider the issue.
You can contact Don MacPherson at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
Thank-you for the brief, clear, and concise explanation about sentencing for murder. The Independent is always well-written.