Toronto senior convicted in manslaughter of his 79-year-old wife gets 5-year sentence

Eighty-two-year-old Lawrence (Larry) Fronczak has been in jail since he was found lying next to his wife Helen’s lifeless body in the couple’s Etobicoke apartment in March 2019.

A superior court judge has now sentenced the elderly grandfather and father who killed his wife of nearly 60 years to five years in prison after Fronczak pleaded guilty to manslaughter last November.

He was originally charged with second-degree murder. After time served, Fronczak has only 14 months and 25 days left to serve.

Madam Justice Maureen Forestell said to those in the courtroom and listening in via zoom that although “this a lenient sentence,” it is still one that still sends a message of denunciation and deterrence, that domestic violence will not be tolerated.

It was March 18, 2019, when Lawrence and Helen Fronczak’s son Mark Fronczak went to his parents’ apartment on Widdicombe Hill Boulevard, near Kipling and Eglinton avenues, and found the door locked, with no sign of forced entry.

When and paramedics got into the apartment, they found 79-year-old Helen with a belt and hanger around her neck.

Lawrence, who goes by Larry, was found lying next to his wife’s body with a knife and hammer beside him. Larry was unresponsive, awake but not speaking. He was taken to hospital and treated for superficial cuts. An autopsy found that Helen’s cause of death with ligature strangulation from the belt.

She also had multiple lacerations to the scalp.

Court heard that psychiatrists could not rule out the possibility that Larry was in a depressive-inspired catatonic state and it was possible that he had no intention to kill Helen. Larry had become depressed after the sudden and tragic death of one of his grandsons in January 2019.

His son Mark said there was a palpable change in his father’s character beginning in February 2019. There was no history of domestic abuse before the homicide.

Larry Fronczak had no prior criminal record, nor did he have a history of psychiatric illness. Still, he was found fit to stand trial.

In late December during a sentencing hearing, letters of support for Larry, written by two of Larry and Helen’s three children, were read out in court.

Mark Fronczak called his dad “a great father and a loving husband” and he said his parents “seemed to always together doing things.”

Catherine Fronczak called her parents best friends who were always holding hands and doing everything together.

“I forgive him (Larry) for what happened and have told him so,” she wrote. Catherine went on to write about the unimaginable anguish and heartache the tragedy has caused for the family since her mother’s death, calling it “a family tragedy that devolved into a psychiatric condition.”

Court has heard that Larry no longer suffers from depression.

Larry also read out a lengthy apology from a video room at the jail during his sentencing hearing in late December, his walker visible in the background.

“I wish I could do something to go back and change what happened but to my sadness, I cannot,” he said. “I remember little about the facts that led to my Helen’s passing. I find it hard to believe I’m capable of such violence and I’m ashamed of it. I feel very badly. I’m not 100 per cent sure why I did what I did,” he continued.

Defence lawyer Alvin Shidlowski asked for a sentence of time served and three years probation, arguing his client was suffering from a major mental illness at the time, and given Larry Fronczak’s age, the number of lockdowns in the jail since his arrest, and the risks to an elderly person in jail due to a global pandemic, his sentence should end.

“I’m pleased that the sentence is no more than five years,” said Shidlowski. “I think that the five year range is appropriate given the circumstances. I was hoping given the major mental illness and the concerns with COVID-19, I hoped she (the judge) would accept the sentence of time served.”

The crown had suggested a sentence of eight to 10 years before being eligible for parole would be more appropriate.

Madam Justice Forestell acknowledged that a five-year sentence is below the usual range for a domestic homicide but the circumstances of this case are unusual and admitted that due to COVID-19, fewer programs are available for offenders.

She said the sentence took into account Larry Fronczak’s age and remorse but it doesn’t negate the fact that “a vulnerable victim was killed in her home in a violent manner.”

Fronczak was given a day and a half credit for every day served in lockdowns. He has served 666 days, of which 229 days were served in lockdown.