Woman gets probation for threatening to kill boyfriend

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on March 25, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 33-year-old woman accused of starting a fire at a city hotel in February has been placed on probation for threatening to kill her boyfriend a month earlier.
At about 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 22 a man called police and said his girlfriend, Kerissa Rikki Plume, threatened to cut off his genitals, as well as kill him, his family and his daughter.
“Miss Plume was upset because she believed (the complainant) had slept with her daughter,” Crown Prosecutor Drew Gillespie said Friday in Lethbridge provincial court, where Plume pleaded guilty to one count of uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.
Gillespie said the man believes Plume was suffering from drug-induced paranoia at the time she made the threats, specifically that she was going to “cut off his private and stick it down his daughter’s throat.”
Gillespie said Plume, 33, made additional, similar threats, which caused her boyfriend to fear for his and his family’s safety.
Plume was given a suspended sentence and placed on probation for one year, during which she must obey several conditions, including she take counselling for domestic violence, addictions and mental health issues, and not have any contact with her former boyfriend.
Lethbridge lawyer Miranda Hlady told court Plume indicated she is not a violent person, but was homeless and suffering from addictions at the time of the offences.
“Her actions were largely fuelled by the side effects of substances that she was consuming ,” Hlady said.
Although no longer in custody on the threats charge, Plume will remain at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre on one charge each of arson causing damage to property and arson to property with reckless disregard to whether the property is occupied, and three charges of failing to comply with release conditions.
Police charged Plume following a fire at about 1 a.m. Feb. 24 at the Holiday Inn in the 2300 block of Mayor Magrath Drive South. Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services was called to a fire in a room on the third floor of the hotel, and a woman, who was the lone occupant of the room, was taken to hospital.
Crews contained the fire to the single room and while no one else was injured, a number of hotel occupants were “displaced” because of smoke and water damage.
Police reported that the building was significantly damaged by the sprinkler system, and damages were estimated to be about $1 million. An investigator determined the fire was caused by “improper disposal of smoking materials.”
A warrant was issued for Plume’s arrest after she left the hospital later in the day, and she was subsequently apprehended.
Her next court hearing to speak to the arson matters is scheduled for next Tuesday.

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