A Langford man who killed his wife by hitting her on the head with a hammer and then strangling her in their home three years ago has been sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 10 years.
On Friday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Power imposed the mandatory life sentence on Kenneth Lawrence Weber after he pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Kerri Weber on Nov. 5, 2020.
Kenneth Weber, 59, always accepted his responsibility for the death of his wife, noted Power, but his plea was delayed while his lawyers explored psychiatric opinions to determine whether he was not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder.
With Kerri Weber’s adult children, Logan and Prairie Groves, present in the courtroom, prosecutor Jess Patterson set out the background of the offence, reading an agreed statement of facts into the court record.
Kenneth and Kerri, 55, met through an online dating service in 2018 and began a romantic relationship. By the end of 2018, they were living together. The couple was married on Sept. 6, 2019, but the marriage was troubled from the start, Patterson said.
“Kerri was a very jealous person and struggled with what she considered to be Mr. Weber’s wandering eye when other women were around. She believed Mr. Weber was constantly lying. This caused a lot of distress in the relationship and the couple was quite unhappy,” said Patterson.
Kenneth had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in his early 20s. In January 2020, he was struggling with depression and tried to kill himself.
After the suicide attempt, Kerri confided to friends and family that she was thinking of leaving her husband because of his declining mental health and their deteriorating relationship, said Patterson.
The couple regularly drank alcohol, but Kenneth stopped drinking after his suicide attempt. Kerri continued to drink.
On the night of Nov. 5, Kerri was upset with Kenneth because he had contacted marriage counsellors without telling her.
She saw this as a breach of trust, said Patterson. Around 11 p.m., they had an argument in Kenneth’s bedroom and Kerri began knocking his belongings off his dresser.
“There was a hammer on the floor of the room. At one point, Kerri said: ‘Why don’t you take that hammer and kill yourself?’ Hearing this, Weber snapped,” said Patterson. “He picked up the hammer, followed Kerri into her bedroom and struck her on the head seven times, then strangled her until she was dead.”
Kenneth also killed her dog — a 13-year-old chihuahua named Freaky — with the hammer.
The cause of Kerri’s death was blunt force trauma with asphyxiation, said Patterson.
On Nov. 6, at 3:32 p.m., Kenneth phoned his mother and told her what had happened. He said he wanted to kill himself but didn’t have the nerve to do it. She told him to call police.
At 3:41 p.m., Kenneth called 911, telling the dispatcher he had killed his wife, hitting her with a hammer, then strangling her. He was still on the phone with the dispatcher when West Shore RCMP arrested him at home at 3:58 p.m., said Patterson.
At the detachment, he told investigators he had been honest on the 911 call.
“I had to ’fess up to what happened. I know it was tragic, but I did it. I just snapped. I feel sick about the whole thing. I’m going away for a long time. I love her,” Kenneth told police.
He also said that after he killed Kerri, he tried to kill himself with a mixture of alcohol and lithium, but he threw up most of it.
In his victim-impact statement, Logan Groves described the prolonged grief, anxiety and trauma he has experienced since the death of his mother.
Prairie Groves told the court she misses her mother, her best friend and confidante, and has suffered extreme depression and anxiety and spent time in hospital in July 2022.
“This act changed my life forever. I will never be able to have my mother at my wedding or helping me raise a child,” she said, wiping away tears.
Kenneth Weber stood in his red jail-issued sweatsuit and, looking directly at Kerri’s children, apologized for his actions.
Power said Kerri Weber’s death was particularly brutal.
“Mr. Weber left her lying on her bedroom floor and made no effort to call for medical help until the next day,” she said
The judge found Kenneth Weber’s confession, guilty plea, remorse and lack of criminal record to be mitigating. Power also noted that Weber had longstanding mental health issues.
“Although they do not rise to a defence of not criminally responsible by reason of a mental disorder, the bipolar disorder no doubt played a role in this tragic event,” she said.
