Imeson pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder

GODERICH, Ont. – Jesse Imeson of Windsor, Ont., has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges for the slayings of three people.

Originally charged with first-degree murder, Imeson agreed Monday to the lesser charges at a hearing at the Huron County Courthouse in Goderich, about 250 kilometres west of Toronto.

As part of the plea bargain, Imeson, 23, faces a sentence of life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for 25 years. Crown attorney Robert Morris said the sentence is the maximum under Canadian law.

Dressed in a black shirt and wearing shackles, Imeson gave his plea without expression, and with his lawyer Don Crawford nearby.

The court heard that on July 18, 2007, Imeson strangled to death 25-year-old Windsor resident Carlos Rivera using a canvas belt with metal rings.

Imeson then fled Windsor in Rivera's car to nearby Grand Bend.

After spending time with a girl he met there, Imeson broke into a barn and stole a .22-calibre rifle.

On the night of July 22, 2007, Imeson broke into the farmhouse of William Regier, 72, and his wife Helene, 73.

The court heard that Imeson forced the Regiers into their basement, tied them with a telephone cord, extension cord, and a clothesline, and then shot them both multiple times with the .22-calibre rifle.

As Crown attorney Morris and Windsor assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Holmes recited the facts of Imeson's crime, members of Rivera's family stared at the accused in the prisoner's box.

The hearing was expected to conclude later Monday.

© Windsor Star 2008