Double killer gets life for highrise murders
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, May 18, 2015
HAY RIVER
A man convicted of two murders in Hay River has been sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility of parole for 14 years.
Benedict Corrigal, 55, was sentenced in NWT Supreme Court in Hay River May 12 by Justice Louise Charbonneau.
He pleaded guilty in March to second degree murder for stabbing his ex-girlfriend Carol Buggins to death in the Hay River highrise almost three years ago.
Corrigal also pleaded guilty to manslaughter for her stabbing and killing her boyfriend Garfield McPherson as he tried to stop the attack on Buggins. Corrigal was sentenced to eight years in prison for McPherson's death.
That sentence will run concurrently with the 17-year life sentence for killing Buggins. Corrigal spent about three years at the North Slave Correctional Centre in pre-trial custody, for which he was credited with time served.
In an agreed statement of facts between Crown prosecutor Marc Lecorre and defence lawyer Peter Harte, court heard Corrigal had been kicked out of a party in McPherson's unit in the highrise after a dispute with Buggins and McPherson. He then went to a different unit in the same building and had a nap. Corrigal awoke about midnight, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and headed back to McPherson's apartment. He attacked Buggins, stabbing her 25 times after she answered the door. McPherson was stabbed several times when he tried to intervene.
With blood on his shirt, Corrigal then wandered around Hay River telling several people what he had just done. He eventually went to the hospital about 4 a.m. and a nurse contacted RCMP. He was arrested and confessed to the crime to police. He told RCMP he killed Buggins so that no one else could have her and that he killed McPherson because he got in the way. Lecorre told the court Corrigal believed he had reconciled with Buggins but she had started dating McPherson.
"He had previous convictions against Buggins, including three assaults and several breaches of no contact orders," said Lecorre.
Lecorre had asked for a sentence of between 15 and 17 years, while Harte said 15 years was appropriate.
Corrigal, who will serve his sentence in the southern prison system, has also been ordered to give a sample of his DNA and is prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm for life.
