Man with long Winnipeg record of targeting elderly women sentenced to life for N.S. murder

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This article was published 11/08/2024 (429 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man has been handed a lifetime sentence for the slaying of a Nova Scotia woman after having a history of preying upon elderly women in Winnipeg.

Richard George Willis, 66, was arrested on July 15, 2020, for the killing of Eleanor Harding, 84, in her home. He was convicted by a jury for second-degree murder in January.

In a parole eligibility hearing, the Crown requested that Willis not be eligible for parole after 22 years, due to the “brutal nature” of the murder and home invasion, and because of the high risk of being a future danger to the public. The Crown said Willis’s chance of rehabilitation is “bleak.”

The court heard that Willis smashed a basement window in the early on morning on July 10, 2020, while Harding was asleep. He entered Harding’s home and strangled her with a pair of women’s jeans. Willis then ransacked her bedroom in search of any valuables. Harding’s son discovered his mother’s body more than a day later.

“This was a predatory and disturbing crime – one that shocks not only the Court but the very fabric of our society,” said James Chipman, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice, in his Aug. 1 decision. Chipman said WIllis will not be eligible for parole for 20 years, meaning, with time served, he will be 82 when he’s first eligible for parole.

Willis knew Harding prior to killing her, and he lived on the same street as her for several years up until when murder took place, the jury heard.

“She was a truly helpless victim – one who was incapable of defending herself against the onslaught of violence she encountered that morning,” said Chipman.

Prior to the murder, documents submitted to the court showed Willis had a lengthy criminal history dating back to 1974. His most recent run-in with the law was an assault in 2019 on his then-girlfriend in Dartmouth, N.S..

Willis was previously convicted for multiple instances of breaking and entering, robbery and assault across Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

20 offences were committed in Winnipeg.

One incident happened in May 2000 when Willis robbed a 79-year-old Winnipeg woman in her home. The woman hired Willis to help weed her garden. While working, Willis asked the woman if she lived alone. After being paid for finishing the gardening work, Willis returned two days later and asked the woman to use her washroom.

When she let him in, she found him going through her purse and wallet, in search of any money she had. Willis then violently grabbed the woman from behind, demanding her to give him money. He was handed a 2 year sentence.

Willis was also sentenced to 4 years and six months for robbery after he broke into an 82-year-old Winnipeg woman’s home, assaulting her in the process and stealing cash in December 2001.

In his victim impact statement, Mark Harding, who discovered his dead mother in her home, said it’s been difficult processing such a violent act committed towards someone so vulnerable.

“Mr. Willis deliberately targeted her knowing that she was an elderly widow living on her own. He showed no remorse for his actions or the impact his heinous act had on her family, friends and even the broader community,” Mark Harding told the court.

“This violent attack has taken away our sense of safety in our own homes.”

matthew.frank@freepress.mb.ca