Overview

• Justice Jennifer Woollcombe described the killing of Vanessa Virgioni as one of the most gruesome second-degree murders she has encountered, citing an attempted decapitation.
• The judge said a 20- to 22-year parole ban would have been fitting but reduced it to 18 years to account for Charter violations.
• An agreed statement of facts detailed that in December 2023, Maplehurst crisis intervention staff strip-searched inmates and applied zip ties, leaving Ritchie in boxer shorts for about 37 hours.
• Ritchie broke into Virgioni’s Brampton basement apartment on June 18, 2022, where she lived with their seven-year-old son, and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder two years later.
• The decision underscores the tension between imposing a severe sentence for extreme violence and addressing procedural rights breaches affecting dozens of Maplehurst inmates.