Godfrey Sig-Od, the Toronto man who stabbed his ex-wife and daughter to death, has been found guilty of the first-degree murder of his ex-wife Elvie Sig-Od.
With regards to his daughter, Angelica Sig-Od, the jury found him not guilty of first-degree murder but guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
The verdict was read out in a downtown Toronto courtroom just before 7:30 p.m. Saturday, after three days of deliberations.
The guilty verdict with regards to the first-degree murder meant the jury agreed with assistant Crown attorneys Rochelle Liberman and Victoria Di Iorio, who argued that Godfrey Sig-Od, 48, carried out his plan to kill 44-year-old Elvie Sig-Od.
The guilty finding with regards to the second-degree murder of the couple’s 20-year-old daughter Angelica meant they do not believe Sig-Od planned to kill his daughter but had to have known he was going to cause her bodily harm, if not death, by stabbing her repeatedly.
Elvie Sig-Od was stabbed or cut 14 times, and Angelica 19 times Bathurst Street near Ellerslie Avenue on the afternoon of Aug. 26, 2022. The knife attack horrified motorists who testified about witnessing the shocking stabbing on the side of the road in Toronto. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
During the trial, York Regional Police Detective Jennifer Garford testified about taking a statement from Elvie at a Markham police station on November 20, 2020, less than two years before Elvie and Angelica were murdered. The videotaped statement was played in court showing Elvie telling Garland that Sig-Od had threatened to kill her. She told the officer she had gone to Sig-Od’s workplace that morning to pick up divorce papers she had asked him to sign.
“I’m walking away to go back to my car and he says ‘stop’ and then he started to tell me ‘I’ve been planning to kill you even before I came here. It’s my plan to kill you,” Elvie said during the videotape statement. She told the officer that she was scared and believed it was something Sig-Od would do. Sig-Od testified he immigrated to Canada from the Philippines in 2019.
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Garford testified a warrant was issued for Sig-Od’s arrest but he was never arrested. Sig-Od testified at trial that he was not aware of any warrant for his arrest.
Evidence was also given by two other York Regional Police officers who testified they attended a domestic call in Markham on October 7, 2020. Elvie had called police to report that she and Sig-Od had gotten into an argument and that he was abusive towards her and their daughter. Elvie reported that a threat was made but after speaking with the officers, it was determined that no criminal offence took place. The officers testified Elvie asked for a restraining order and they instructed her to attend the Newmarket courthouse in order to receive one.
Liberman told jurors during her closing address Wednesday that Godfrey Sig-Od tried to get his ex-wife and daughter alone for months in order to carry out his plan to kill them both. She suggested that Sig-Od changed his strategy when he realized they were unwilling to invite him to their home.
“He started inviting them to restaurants, he also started telling them to come to his boarding house to pick up money for various things and, on the day he killed them, he sent 79 messages to Elvie and sent 15 to Angelica,” Liberman told the jury.
She said Sig-Od lured them to his boarding house that day using every excuse he could think of.
“I submit to you he really wanted them to be together but had limited options about where to carry out the plan. He couldn’t carry out the plan at Elvie and Angelica’s residence because he didn’t know where they lived,” Liberman said.
“And so, the car ended up being the best option for Mr. Sig-Od to carry out his plan. Elvie was driving, Angelica was in the front passenger seat. Therefore, their backs were to Mr. Sig-Od. The car was a confined space and while they were driving, there was nowhere for them to go.”
The Crown said Sig-Od carried out the plan after realizing that there was no hope in getting his family back together and that his daughter no longer cared about his side of the family.
Liberman argued that Sig-Od’s evidence that he was in a rage and did not remember stabbing his ex-wife and daughter should not be believed.
Defence lawyer Daniel Brodsky reminded the jury in his closing address that his client tried to plead guilty to manslaughter, admitting he killed his ex-wife and daughter. He then argued that Sig-Od did not plan nor deliberate the deadly attack.
“He will learn on your verdict as to whether he is to be labelled by his fellow citizens as a cold-blooded murderer or a person who, in the absence of cool reflection, killed in hot blood,” Brodsky said.
He argued that his client was overtaken by a blind rage at the time of the fatal stabbing.
“In that uncontrollable state, he lashed out at his ex-wife and daughter unaware of the true extent of the harm he was causing,” Brodsky added.
First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. Second-degree murder is a life sentence with a parole ineligibility period of between ten and 25 years.
Justice Al O’Marra asked jurors to make recommendations on a period of parole ineligibility with regards to the Second Degree Murder Verdict. After a thirty-minute break, the judge read out that one juror recommended 10 years, one recommended 20 years, one recommended 21 years, one said 24 years and eight recommended 25 years.
A sentencing hearing has been tentatively scheduled for March 3.
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