Murder victim Lesley Watterworth's family has been waiting almost two-years for justice and justice was finally served Friday.
Windsor's John Wayne Pierre sat silently in the courtroom as the verdict was read just before 8pm Friday — nearly eight hours after deliberations began — the jury decided to convict the 49 year old of second degree murder.
John Wayne Pierre (Photo courtesy of CTV Windsor)
Pierre admitted to the court that he killed his girlfriend, 42-year-old Lesley Watterworth, inside her home on Nov. 1, 2016. For that reason Justice Renee Pomerance only presented second degree murder or manslaughter as options to the jury after the defence contested Pierre wasn't responsible for his actions after days of drinking and drug use.
Lesley Watterworth was found dead in her Curry Ave. home in November 2016 (Image courtesy of Watterworth family)
Watterworth's mother Veronica was embraced by family in the courtroom after the jury handed down its decision. She tells AM800 News, after waiting nearly two-years, it's the best outcome they could have hoped for.
"I was concerned by the fact they were saying something about him being insane, and I thought no, that can't happen," she says. "I would do anything to make that not happen but there's nothing I can do, but it's okay because it worked out the way it should," she says. "When he cried it was just like, oh please, please stop, but we got through it and now he's going to pay."
Defence attorney Ken Marley says murder versus manslaughter is a tough call to make.
"I think that's borne out by the time the jury took to come to a verdict," he says. "While there's evidence to support both verdicts, possibly, I'm certainly disappointed that they came to the conclusion that they did."
Knife tip found in the kitchen where Lesley Watterworth was found murdered, November 2, 2016 (Courtesy Ontario Superior Court)
The jury was told Watterworth suffered 69 sharp-force-injuries to her body, including a fatal stab-wound to her back that was 15cm deep.
Brutality Marley admits is hard to ignore.
"I would think that the two things that probably weighed more heavily than any were the number of wounds to the victim and the fact that, by Mr. Pierre's admission, he removed the knife from the sheath," he added.
A pre-sentencing hearing will be held Oct. 5 but Marley doesn't expect a final sentence to be set until next year.
Pierre faces life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 10 to 25-years.
— with files from AM800's Kristylee Varley.