 Nicky Puddicombe (right) was found guilty tonight of the murder of her boyfriend Dennis Hoy, a crime for which her lesbian lover Ashleigh Pechaluk was acquitted. (SUN MEDIA FILE PHOTO)
|
An Etobicoke woman was found guilty today of first-degree murder in the axe-bludgeoning of her long-time boyfriend.
Nicky Puddicombe was convicted of either orchestrating, aiding in the murder or wielding the axe herself during the Oct. 27, 2006 slaying of Dennis Hoy, 36, as he slept in her Queensway bed.
Puddicombe, 36, was automatically sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 25 years for the death of Hoy, a GO Transit officer and her boyfriend of 11 years.
She was also involved with Ashleigh Pechaluk, now 25, in a 13-month lesbian relationship at the time.
Crown attorneys Tom Lissaman and Maureen Bellmore are alleging twin motives for the two women.
— Pechaluk was madly in love with Puddicombe.
— Pechaluk wanted to eliminate Hoy — whom she believed was abusive and cruel towards Puddicombe — so that the two women could enjoy their relationship without his interference.
Puddicombe wanted her lesbian lover to kill Hoy, so that Puddicombe could collect Hoy’s GO Transit pension benefits and life insurance policy, which was worth more than $250,000, court was told.
She tried to cash it four days after Hoy was killed.
Pechaluk was acquitted of the axe-murder in June by a jury. But the jurors never heard that she had confessed to the crime as that statement was inadmissible because her Charter rights to counsel were violated.
Puddicombe’s lawyer Richard Stern accused Pechaluk during the trial of being a master manipulator who worked alone to kill her lesbian lover’s boyfriend.
During a vigorous cross-examination, Stern called Pechaluk a “manipulator who pulled the strings” to kill Hoy while Puddicombe was taking her nightly shower.
Stern asked why the plan had to involve two people if Puddicombe was in the shower at the time while Pechaluk was killing Hoy as he slept in Nicky’s bed.
“And we have your word for that,” replied Stern, alluding to Pechaluk’s admitted “lie” when she confessed to police to the homicide to protect her lover.
Pechaluk maintained her innocence, saying she refused her lover’s request to kill Hoy that night. Two co-workers testified that Pechaluk told them that she and Nicky would kill Hoy, who was staying at their apartment for more than a week.
sam.pazzano@sunmedia.ca
