A 32-year-old Cape Breton man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of his mother, who disappeared two years ago.
Michelle Demers-Kennedy, 58, was reported missing on May 12, 2013 by one of her five children when he couldn’t reach her on Mother’s Day.
RCMP and search crews conducted extensive searches near Michelle’s Three Rivers Road home in Framboise, N.S. but they failed to locate her body.
Michelle’s son, Merlin Demers-Kennedy, was charged with second-degree murder in January 2014, following a seven-month investigation.
He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter in a Port Hawkesbury courtroom Wednesday morning.
The court heard that Demers-Kennedy has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
According to an agreed statement of facts, Demers-Kennedy told investigators that his mother was frequently trying to have sex with him and he wanted to take her to the police so he ‘could stop her from raping’ him.
"Mr. Demers-Kennedy believed he was being assaulted by his mother and ultimately on this day he confronted her with the intention of taking her to the police," said Crown attorney Shane Russell.
"A dispute occurred at that point, a confrontation between him and his mother. Ultimately, Mr. Demers-Kenney struck his mother and used a rope to asphyxiate her."
The court heard that Demers-Kennedy then covered his mother's body in Pine-Sol, placed it into the trunk of his car and buried it in the woods.
He told police where he buried her, but her remains have never been found.
Demers-Kennedy is due back in court for sentencing on June 19.
