For nearly three years, Elboy Pio says his suffering has been “unbearable.”
Pio, the brother of Elvie Sig-Od — a 44-year-old woman who was stabbed to death by her ex-husband in 2022 — told a downtown Toronto courtroom Monday through a victim impact statement that Godfrey Sig-Od’s actions ensured their world “changed forever.”
It was “an act of unimaginable violence, and that loss is something we will carry for the rest of our lives,” said assistant Crown attorney Rochelle Liberman, speaking on behalf of Pio, who lives in the Philippines.
“Fear and anxiety have become daily battles. We no longer feel safe in a world where something so cruel could happen to someone we love.”
Sig-Od, 48, was found guilty last month for the first-degree murder of Elvie and the second-degree murder of his daughter, Angelica. He was in court Monday for a sentencing hearing where victim impact statements and sentencing submissions were delivered.
Given first-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years, Superior Court Justice Al O’Marra is left to decide a period of parole ineligibility for the second-degree murder charge, which can be set between 10 to 25 years.
Before jurors were discharged after delivering their verdicts last month, jurors made recommendations, with the majority supporting a 25-year parole ineligibility period. Assistant Crown attorney Victoria Di Iorio also sought a 25-year parole ineligibility in the Crown’s sentencing submissions on Monday.
“While Mr. Sig-Od will be sentenced to 25 years of parole ineligibility for Elvie, the parole ineligibility for the second-degree murder of Angelica is nonetheless significant and important,” Di Iorio said.
“It should send a message to Mr. Sig-Od, and the public generally, for denunciation and deterrence.”
Di Iorio added the the “sustained and brutal attack” warrants the maximum parole ineligibility be given.
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“The court heard evidence of how the attacks played out, with movement by all parties in an around the car. Their deaths were not swift. They would have suffered,” she said.
“In the moments leading up to their deaths, Elvie and Angelica would have been aware that it was Godfrey who was attacking them. They would have been fearful for themselves and each other. They were unarmed and had no means of protecting themselves.”
Defence lawyer Daniel Brodsky says he is seeking a 12-year parole ineligibility period, given it, in addition to a life sentence, provides society with powerful a denunciation, as well as deterrence.
However, Brodsky said regardless, Sig-Od will serve life with no chance of parole for 25 years for the planned and deliberate killing of his ex-wife, given the sentences run concurrently.
February’s guilty verdict meant the jury agreed with Di Iorio and Liberman, who argued Sig-Od planned to kill Elvie on Aug. 26, 2022.
However, the second-degree murder guilty finding meant they did not believe Sig-Od planned to kill 20-year-old daughter Angelica, but had to have known he was going to cause her bodily harm, if not death.
Sig-Od’s actions ‘ruining my future’: witness
On that day, Elvie was stabbed or cut 14 times, and Angelica 19 times inside a car on Bathurst Street near Ellerslie Avenue. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Less than two years before they were killed, York Regional Police Det. Jennifer Garford testified about taking a videotaped statement from Elvie, which showed 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 videotaped statement. She told the officer she was scared and believed it was something Sig-Od would do.
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 Oct. 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 to obtain one.
During her closing address, Liberman told jurors that Sig-Od tried to get his ex-wife and daughter alone for months to carry out his plan to kill them. She suggested that Sig-Od changed his strategy when he realized they were unwilling to invite him to their home.
In response to the Crown calling it an aggravating factor that Sig-Od did not plead guilty, Brodsky reminded O’Marra Sig-Od tried to plead guilty to manslaughter at the outset of the trial. He also said his client tried to plead guilty to second-degree murder, which has not been heard in open court before. Both were rejected by the Crown.
During his closing address, Brodsky argued his client was overtaken by a blind rage at the time of the fatal stabbing. Liberman argued that evidence should not be believed.
Esther Rana, a witness to the crime, told the court Monday it has left deep scar.
“The only question I have for you is why? … You have made me afraid of men and knives; thank you for ruining my future and current relationships,” Rana said during her victim impact statement.
Sig-Od was given the opportunity to address the court, but his lawyer said he had nothing to say.
O’Marra reserved his sentence on the second-degree murder parole ineligibility for March 13.
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