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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Probation for senator's wife

Pleads guilty to causing ruckus on flight to Saskatoon

By: Jennifer Graham

Posted: 09/21/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Liam Richards / The Canadian Press Manitoba Sen. Rod Zimmer and wife, Maygan Sensenberger, leave court Thursday. (CP)

SASKATOON -- A Manitoba senator and his wife walked out of a courthouse together Thursday after she pleaded guilty to causing a disturbance on an Air Canada flight.

Maygan Sensenberger, who is married to Sen. Rod Zimmer, had appeared in court to deal with charges stemming from a ruckus on a flight from Ottawa to Saskatoon at the end of August.

Sensenberger, 23, sat quietly next to her lawyer.

"She realizes that a lot of people on the plane were disturbed by her behaviour," defence lawyer Leslie Sullivan told the court.

Sensenberger was given a 12-month suspended sentence with probation. She'll also have to attend counselling, which could include anger-management or alcohol-treatment classes.

A charge of uttering threats against her husband was withdrawn.

People on the plane gave varying accounts of the seriousness of what happened on the flight, which was just days before the couple's first anniversary.

One witness said Sensenberger became upset when Zimmer, 69, started feeling tightness in his chest. The couple began arguing over how seriously Zimmer, a throat cancer survivor, was taking his health.

Sullivan told the court Zimmer had to be taken to hospital a few days before the flight for hornet bites.

"His lack of taking care of his health has been a constant issue between them, said Sullivan.

She said the couple were arguing about his health in the airport before they left Ottawa and continued to fight on the plane. Sensenberger believed Zimmer had a heart attack during the flight, said Sullivan.

"As a result of that she became more distraught, more stressed out, and of course the fact that people on the plane said there was no problem made her even more upset," said Sullivan.

"She was significantly distraught. And I think that when you're in that kind of situation, when you're distraught, you have few drinks in your system, you say and do things that you might not do (in normal) circumstances."

Police alleged the two were arguing before any health issues surfaced. The Crown told court one witness said Sensenberger could be overheard saying she would cut Zimmer's throat.

Prosecutor Matt Miazga said Zimmer told police the conversation was about going to the hospital for treatment of the hornet bites or "it might kill him."

"And she was saying things like, 'Well, if that doesn't kill you, if the drugs don't kill you, I'll kill you. I'll slit your throat. I'll kick your ass around the corner,' " Miazga told the court.

"He referred to that as loving and endearing talk, which was his perception of the situation."

Miazga said at no time was the plane in any danger.

Sensenberger was initially charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft. That charge was later dropped.

The case took off on the Internet and in the media. The couple's large age difference and a rich Facebook dossier on their relationship fuelled an appetite for the story.

It's not the first time Sensenberger has been in trouble. In January 2009 she pleaded guilty to impaired driving.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 21, 2012 A15

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