Lorraine Wiseman lied to police on May 2, 2025 when two police officers came to the Toronto home where she lived with her parents, Ruby and Neil Wiseman.
Police had gone to the Penetang Crescent house in the Scarborough area to do a wellness check after receiving a call from a concerned family member in Newfoundland.
Lorraine Wiseman, the 56-year-old daughter and only child of the couple, told the officers her parents were not at home and were at a “centre.” She did not provide officers with the name of the centre.
She then told officers that her brother was out with his parents and maintained that they would not be home until later that evening.
After canvassing neighbours on the street, the officers returned to the family home to speak with Wiseman and after lengthy discussions, were allowed inside the home to complete the check.
It was once they were inside that police made the gruesome discovery. Ruby’s body was found concealed inside a storage bin. Her husband Neil’s body was tucked inside a chest freezer.
On Thursday, Wiseman stood in front of Ontario Court Justice Philip Downes and pleaded guilty to two counts of offering an indignity to a dead human body. There were no family or friends of the family in the courtroom.
Wiseman showed no emotion as assistant Crown prosecutor Andrea McPhedran read from an agreed statement of facts that detailed how officers found the couple’s bodies. It also stated what Wiseman told police during an interview the day after her arrest.
Court heard Wiseman had always lived with her parents. She had worked for approximately 30 years for the Toronto District School Board as an educational assistant in a high school, but she stopped working during the COVID-19 pandemic due to generalized anxiety disorder and to care for her parents.
Both parents were in their 90s. Neither Ruby nor Neil had left the home nor seen a medical professional for years.
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The first officer who asked to conduct a search did a walkthrough of the home. Wiseman tried to close the door of the den before stating “no” when the officer tried to search it. The officer only looked briefly inside before searching every other room. He did not find anyone inside.
The second officer then asked to conduct a search. While in the den, he asked to see inside a bin. Wiseman opened it slightly and said it was “just dirt.” The officers then took a closer look in the bin and found it contained a body in a state of advanced decomposition.
Wiseman was arrested.
The house was subsequently searched, and Neil Wiseman’s body was located in a chest freezer in the basement.
“During the time when the officers were canvassing with neighbours, Ms. Wiseman consumed three or four glasses of wine and wrote a note,” McPhendran said.
In the note made an exhibit in court, Wiseman wrote, “Dear Officers ~ I want to be very clear that I have not – never did – nor ever would hurt my mom and dad! They died of natural means. Neither wanted to be buried.”
The following day, she gave a statement to police outlining substantial details about her parents’ care, deaths and her conduct afterwards.
According to the facts read out in court, Ruby died in August 2022 on the couch in the den. She was not mobile at the time of her death and required significant care. Wiseman did not call emergency services when she discovered her mother’s body.
She told detectives that she panicked. She unsuccessfully attempted to revive her mother. She wanted to keep her mother close to her. She wrapped her in a blanket, removed her underwear and with, her father’s assistance, placed her mother in a Rubbermaid bin and snapped the lid shut.
Wiseman put a note on the bin that read “do not open” for her father, who exhibited signs of dementia, though it was not diagnosed.
Wiseman believes her father was unaware of what was happening when he helped place her mother in the bin. The container remained closed in the den until May 2, 2025.
The agreed statement of facts also states that Neil died on Christmas 2023, while sitting at the kitchen table. Wiseman advised detectives that again she panicked, and wanted to keep him at home, as her parents were the only support she had.
Acting alone, she dragged him down the stairs into the basement, propped him on a chair, and then placed him into a chest freezer. She put a garbage bag over his face because it was “too hard to see him.” She tied his legs with a belt so that they would not push the freezer open.
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Both Ruby and Neil received pensions, which continued to be deposited into a joint account until May 2025. Wiseman made routine purchases from her own bank account and the joint bank account for groceries and necessities up to May 2025.
Wiseman did not tell anyone about the deaths of her parents. She maintained regular communications with her neighbours. They helped her weekly with obtaining groceries as she did not drive. When they inquired about her parents, she would tell them that her parents were doing well.
In March 2025, one neighbour brought over a cake for Neil’s birthday. The neighbours believed that Ruby and Neil were alive but housebound and cared for by their daughter. Neighbours had suggested several times that Wiseman obtain outside help to care for them, which Wiseman declined.
Wiseman knew her parents would not have wanted her remains kept in the house after their deaths. She believed that her mother may have wanted to be cremated but wasn’t certain, and thought they may have had a plot already selected at Pine Hills Cemetery. She was unaware of whether her father had any similar plans.
Autopsies were done on the bodies after they were discovered in the house.
Neil’s cause of death was not determined, though the pathologist noted multiple freezer burns on his body. He also had multiple superficial blunt force injuries, some with evidence of healing, but insufficient to explain death.
Ruby’s cause of death was also not determined. No significant trauma was noted on her body.
A date for a sentencing hearing has yet to be set. The maximum sentence for offering an indignity to a dead body is five years in prison.
Wiseman is currently out on bail.
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