THUNDER BAY — The Ontario Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against the second-degree murder conviction of Daniel Debassige.
He was 39 years old in 2014 when he was arrested along with 45-year-old co-accused Monica Spence after the body of 62-year-old Richard Spence – the woman's distant cousin – was found in a Secord Street apartment.
The deceased had suffered 74 separate injuries, two-thirds of which were to his neck and head.
A pathologist concluded he died from blunt impact facial trauma with aspiration of blood.
Monica Spence and Debassige had been in a relationship for several years.
Both were arrested by Thunder Bay Police.
Evidence presented at their joint jury trial indicated that on the day that Richard Spence died, Monica Spence had been intoxicated and fell asleep before waking up to being sexually assaulted by him.
She fought back, overcame his efforts to restraint her, and was able to leave his apartment.
Later that day, a lifelong friend of Richard Spence found his body in a pool of blood on the bedroom floor.
In 2017, Monica Spence was sentenced to five years, minus pre-trial custody, for manslaughter.
Debassige received a mandatory life sentence with no eligibility for parole for 10 years, with a recommendation that he serve his time in a minimum-security healing lodge in western Canada.
He was convicted on the basis of witness testimony that he had admitted to killing "a rapist," blood samples collected from the victim's apartment, and the presence of his DNA in the victim's fingernail scrapings.
Debasige subsequently appealed the conviction on five grounds, the principal reasons being alleged errors in the trial judge's instructions to the jury.
After hearing submissions by video conference in March 2021, the court of appeal rejected the arguments in a 47-page written decision which was handed down last week.
