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Alberta’s highest court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of second-degree murder for beating his common-law wife to death in their home six years ago.
Citing a legal error, a panel of three judges with the Court of Appeal of Alberta has overturned Ryan Applegarth’s conviction in the death of Chantelle Firingstoney.
Firingstoney, a 26-year-old mother of four from the Samson Cree First Nation, died on November 5, 2020, inside her home in Ponoka, Alta.
Trial heard that Firingstoney had suffered catastrophic injuries including a dozen broken ribs, a lacerated liver and multiple blunt-force injuries to her head, torso and extremities.
In a unanimous decision issued on April 17, the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction issued in May 2023 by trial judge Justice Eleanor J. Funk.
The appeal justices ruled that the trial judge repeatedly failed to apply the correct legal test for second-degree murder when convicting Applegarth in the killing.
The trial judge made no finding that the appellant had the specific intent to kill, the appeal judges wrote.
The Ponoka man, who is now 33, has been granted a new trial.
Conviction must be set aside, court rules
“We conclude that the trial judge erred in law in her assessment of the necessary mens rea for second-degree murder,” the appeal court decision reads.
“The resulting conviction is unsafe and must be set aside.”
On the night of the killing, Firingstoney had left the family home to visit a friend for some drinks but had returned within the hour.
There was no dispute at trial that, immediately before her death, Firingstoney and Applegarth were the only adults in the home.
Shortly after 9 p.m., Applegarth went to his neighbour’s home and asked that an ambulance be called. Medics soon arrived. They found Firingstoney unresponsive and were unable to revive her.
An autopsy found that she died of blood loss and oxygen deprivation to her vital organs.
Following a five-day trial in Wetaskiwin, the trial judge convicted Applegarth of second-degree murder.
In her oral reasons, Funk concluded that Applegarth “intended to cause bodily harm to Ms. Firingstoney, and he was reckless as to whether or not death ensued.”
Funk characterized the fatal assault on Firingstoney as a “gratuitous act of violence” that highlights the dangers that Indigenous women disproportionately face, even inside their own homes.
She said that Firingstoney, a Cree mother, was defenceless against the violence that played out that night, in the presence of five young children.
Applegarth was sentenced to life with no eligibility for parole for 18 years.
“As with the gravity of this offence, Mr. Applegarth’s moral culpability is high,” Funk wrote in the 2023 decision.
A question of intent
In his application for an appeal, Applegarth did not dispute the trial judge’s conclusion that he caused Firingstoney’s death by means of an unlawful assault but contested the findings around his intent.
His appeal challenged the trial judge’s analysis and findings on the mens rea — or guilty mind — required to be convicted of second-degree murder.
The appeal court found that the trial judge repeatedly omitted the “knowledge” component required for a second-degree murder conviction.
The appeal judges ruled that the Crown’s case, which was entirely circumstantial, lacked the “clear fact findings” required to determine whether he knew the beating he inflicted on Firingstoney was likely to cause her death.
“Accordingly, the trial judge’s finding that the appellant was reckless as to whether Ms Firingstoney lived or died amounted — at most — to a finding that he knew death was a possible consequence of the assault he intentionally inflicted upon her,” the decision reads.
“In this case, the Crown argues that despite the error, the case against the appellant is overwhelming. We do not agree that the Crown has met its very high burden of establishing this.
“There is a realistic possibility that a jury could have reached a different verdict of manslaughter.”
Applegarth has a lengthy and violent criminal record and was on bail for a previous homicide when he killed Firingstoney.
A new trial date has not yet been set. Applegarth remains in custody — serving time for his manslaughter conviction in the death of Jamison Louis, who was shot in the chest at his home in Wetaskiwin on Jan. 3, 2020.
He was sentenced in that killing in 2022 at the Wetaskiwin Court of King’s Bench.
