Second guilty plea in Jennifer Horne murder case
Posted Jun 11, 2010 09:04:40 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Desmond Maguire, currently on trial for first-degree murder in the 2007 death of Jennifer Horne, has changed his plea to guilty.
Maguire told the judge at the start of proceedings on the third day of his trial that he wished to plead guilty to the charge of first degree murder.
“Is this plea given freely and voluntarily,” asked Justice Richard Coughlan.
“Yes,” replied Maguire.
The jury was then brought in and the court clerk read the charge.
“How do you plead,” she asked.
“Guilty,” replied Maguire.
He will be sentenced on June 30, the same day as his common-law wife, Ashley Haley. She pleaded guilty on Monday, before the jury had been selected.
The pair were arrested after Horne’s body was found in their Dartmouth apartment on New Year’s Eve, 2007.
She’d gone out on a date with Maguire on Dec. 29 and never returned home.
A dramatic police videotape played for jurors on Thursday shows Maguire initially denying any knowledge of – or involvement in – Jennifer Horne’s disappearance.
But Halifax Regional Police Const. Tony Blencowe persisted, suggesting Maguire knew what happened. Maguire finally broke down in tears and told Blencowe Horne was at his place, in a closet – and not alive.
At that point, Maguire says, “I didn’t mean to do it.”
“Hearing that obviously had some effect on him because we did have some discussions after that which led to his change of plea today,” says Maguire’s lawyer Robert Rideout.
Maguire says he woke up the day after the two had gone out for drinks and found her body bound in duct tape in the trunk of his car.
He said he’d had too much to drink and couldn’t remember what had happened, though he insisted Haley, wasn’t involved in Horne’s death.
Several of Horne’s family members left the courtroom Thursday when medical examiner Dr. Matthew Bowes testified about Horne’s injuries.
Bowes told the court Horne had multiple injuries, especially around her genital area, but the cause of death was suffocation after duct tape was wrapped tightly around most of her head.
Bowes says death would have come in seconds.
Outside court, Bowes was reluctant to talk to reporters, but says it was a difficult case.
“Many homicides in Canada are of the crime of passion variety where one doesn’t see a great number of injuries, but this case is obviously different,” he said. “I have a duty to the court and to tell the truth, and that carries me through these kinds of things.”
Horne’s step-uncle, Steve Andrews, says what the young woman suffered was beyond belief.
“She would have been just so frightened, dying alone in that manner,” he said outside court.
However he says the change in plea is a relief.
“I don’t think people can imagine the buildup almost two-and-a-half years,” said Andrews. “It’s a huge relief, don’t get me wrong, we’re just so pleased that we now don’t have to go through the rest of this trial.”
