Man pleads guilty to viciously killing mom

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This article was published 28/03/2022 (1259 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Manitoba man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for bludgeoning his mother, claiming he “snapped” after she told him she wished he were dead.

The mandatory sentence for second-degree murder is life in prison. Lawyers for the Crown and defence have jointly recommended Kelton Wood be able to apply for parole after serving 10 years in custody, the minimum term allowed under the Criminal Code.

Charlotte Wood, 35, died Sept. 24, 2020, as the result of blunt force trauma to the head. She was stabbed 70 times all over her body and had several burn injuries to her arm, back and thigh.

Kelton Wood, 18 at the time of the killing, will return to court for sentencing in June following the completion of reports looking into his background and prospects for rehabilitation.

More than half a dozen family members attended Monday’s court hearing in Winnipeg; a few family members cried softly when Wood was later led out of court by sheriff’s officers.

“Defence counsel and myself want the parole board to have as much information as possible,” Crown attorney Danielle Simard told Queen’s Bench Justice Shaun Greenberg. “To quote one of the deceased’s sibling’s, ‘Kelton will still be my nephew when he gets out of jail.’ So, there is very much a desire to give the parole board everything they need to help Mr. Wood.”

Band constables arrived at the St. Theresa Point home, shared by Wood and his mother, around 7 a.m. after an anonymous caller reported there were “copious amounts of blood” in the house, Simard told court, reading from an agreed statement of facts.

Wood, wearing a T-shirt and runners stained with wet blood, started crying and tried to close the door when a constable and three co-workers entered the house. Once inside, they found Charlotte Wood face down on the kitchen floor, with a blood-stained shovel and dumbbell near her body.

After being taken into custody, Wood gave a full confession to RCMP, saying the killing was sparked by a discussion about access issues involving his child.

“Kelton tried to confide in his mother… and told her that she should know what it feels like not being able to see her kids,” Simard said. “Charlotte got upset at Kelton and began yelling at him, blaming him for everything, and telling him she wished he were dead.”

Wood said “something inside him snapped” and he attacked his mother. He knocked her to the floor and choked her, and then hit her with a shovel three times.

“He stated that he had also cut her and put hot knives on her stomach, but could not remember doing it or why,” Simard said.

Charlotte Wood suffered extensive fractures to all of her skull and facial bones.

“Dental comparison was required in order to positively identify the deceased,” Simard said.

Wood remains in custody pending sentencing.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca