One of two knives police found at the bedside of Brenda Woloski the night of her killing on Nov. 12, 2016.--NEWS HANDOUT COURTESY COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH
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Noah Bentley repeatedly confessed to slaying 53-year-old Brenda Woloski in the 24 hours following his arrest, court heard Friday.
“I’m guilty, I killed a woman. I don’t deserve to be on the streets,” he told police upon his arrest.
Counsel isn’t disputing that Bentley choked, stabbed and beat Woloski to death, but will argue the accused is not criminally responsible for second-degree murder.
He’s being tried by Justice Glen Poelman without a jury in the Court of Queen’s Bench.
The first day of proceedings opened with the Crown’s reading of the agreed statement of facts, after which court is expected to hear from a Crown psychiatrist and defence psychologist before the trial wraps up with arguments Wednesday.
The cause of Woloski’s death and circumstances surrounding it had not previously been released.
Bentley was brought to police’s attention on Nov. 12, 2016, at 8:26 p.m., after his spouse reported him missing.
She said she hadn’t seen him since he left their house following a verbal altercation about unwashed dishes around 11 a.m.
The accused later told police he had gone on a drinking spree across town, meeting the victim at the Assiniboia Hotel’s bar and leaving with her before 7 p.m.
A police officer found him walking shirtless and visibly intoxicated on Maple Avenue near Prince Street around 10:20 p.m., where he offered his first confession of the grisly crime.
The officer observed blood on his face, forehead, glasses and chest.
Five minutes later, he was placed under arrest. While being read his Charter rights, he confessed again.
“I killed a woman. I stabbed her in the face and neck and throat,” Bentley said, describing the house to police.
Asked if he wanted to contact a lawyer, Bentley said, “No, I don’t need to call a lawyer, I killed a woman, I admit, I killed a woman.”
At 10:42 p.m., police located a house that matched the description Bentley provided, which had its door wide open.
Inside, they found the victim’s blood-soaked body and two knives on the floor beside it.
The autopsy – completed in September 2017 – confirms the cause of death as the “combined effects of multiple blunt and sharp force injuries, and neck compression.” There were 23 sharp force injuries in total.
Bentley wrote an apology letter to the victim’s family on Nov. 13 – his final confession.
“I hate myself for what I did,” he wrote. “Who the hell am I to take another’s life. I’m not going to try to justify what I did, it was wrong.”
Proceedings continue Monday.
