A man who drove onto a curb, striking and killing his wife of 16 years after a fight outside the couple’s Etobicoke home, has been sentenced to five years in prison.
On June 27, 2025, a jury found Giuseppe (Joe) Zollerano not guilty of the first-degree murder of his wife, Katherine (Katie) Zollerano, but guilty of the lesser and included offence of manslaughter.
Katherine Zollerano, who had a 15-year-old daughter with her husband, spent five weeks in the intensive care unit of Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital before succumbing to her injuries.
At the sentencing hearing in February, Crown prosecutors James Frost and Amanda Hauk argued that Joe Zollerano committed an act of unlawful assault when he drove up onto the curb on Sept. 25, 2022, on Gamma Street, striking his 43-year-old wife with his GMC Savana van.
Despite the fact that the jury found there was no murderous intent in convicting Zollerano of manslaughter, the Crown argued it was still an intentional and deliberate assault using his van.
Defence lawyers Boris Bytensky and Laura Metcalfe argued that the unlawful act was dangerous driving, saying Zollerano, who was 48 at the time, had no intention of striking his wife. Zollerano’s lawyers argued that sentencing should be based on the unlawful act of dangerous driving.
“In light of the verdict, the court cannot be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to use his van to intentionally strike her as the Crown urges,” Superior Justice Michael Brown said, agreeing with the defence that Zollerano committed the unlawful act of dangerous driving.
The Crown had asked for a 10-year prison sentence, arguing this was not just a case of bad driving. They argued that Zollerano’s actions must be considered in the context of this being an intimate partner violence manslaughter, which normally ranges between seven and 12 years.
The defence countered that Zollerano, who suffers from bipolar disorder, should be spared further imprisonment and asked for either a conditional or suspended sentence, which they said would still address the issue of denunciation. They also said a further period of probation of up to three years would be appropriate, along with a driving prohibition.
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The defence argued that maintaining Zollerano’s mental health stability would allow him to continue in the community with ongoing psychotherapy, critical for Zollerano and the public.
Brown said it was an aggravating factor that Zollerano used his van to intimidate and instill fear in his wife by driving the way he did, finding that he was angry at her for running away from the family home.
“His intention was to find her and bring her back to the family home,” Brown said.
The judge also accepted the evidence of a mechanic for the defence, who testified there was a failure in the braking system.
“However, I’m also satisfied his dangerous driving contributed to Mrs. Zollerano’s death, notwithstanding the brake failure,” Brown added.
Brown called it aggravating that the dangerous driving was perpetrated in the context of Zollerano’s intimate partner relationship with Katherine Zollerano.
“His dangerous driving was the result of a culmination of domestic violence that evening that ended with Mrs. Zollerano’s death. His anger was initially manifested some hours earlier as captured on video when he slapped her on the face, then pushed her out of the garage, causing her to fall to the ground,” Brown said. “It escalated later, when he attempted to intimidate and cause fear by driving the van.”
Brown also said the fact that Zollerano was drunk and was taking the drug lorazepam for his bipolar disorder was aggravating.
“He knew the effects of lorazepam when he drank alcohol,” Brown added.
Also aggravating was the fact that after hitting his wife with his van, Zollerano left the scene, drove off to a gas station and did not call 911. He then went home, parked the van and walked to the scene before moving his wife from the location where she was hit across the street. He also lied to their daughter about the circumstances around her mother’s death, which Brown said compounded the anguish she was subjected to.
“It was callous conduct based on his desire not to be held responsible for his unlawful activity,” the judge said. “I do not accept his evidence that he did not realize he had struck his wife with the van.”
The judge said mitigating factors included Zollerano’s remorse, the strong support of his family and friends, including a health-care provider, and his mental health issues.
“While I accept his bipolar disorder played a role in this incident, in my view, Mr. Zollerano’s primary motivation was his anger towards Mrs. Zollerano and his desire to instil fear and intimidate Mrs. Zollerano so she would return home,” Brown said. “To put it another way, his mental illness did not play a central role in this.”
Brown called it mitigating that Zollerano has been on restrictive bail conditions since January 2023.
After enhanced credit for 108 days in pre-sentence custody and 67 days of harsh lockdown, which the judge said equals seven months, Zollerano has four years and five months left to serve.
“Were it not for the mitigating circumstances in this case, I would have imposed a sentence of eight years,” Brown told the court.
Katherine Zollerano’s aunt Roberta Newman spoke outside court and said she is disappointed with the sentence.
“We listened hard. We understood what the judge was saying. I feel that he had a lot of reason to have an intimate partner violence sentence harsher than what he did. There’s 112 municipalities in this province that has recognized it as an epidemic. Katie is one. What do we have to do to get our justice system to understand that we need more help?” Newman said.
“We are so disappointed and saddened that we weren’t able to help Katie and we hope that this part of the process that’s ended will give her soul some peace.”
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