Man who strangled elderly Dartmouth woman not eligible for parole for 20 years: N.S. judge

A gavel sits on a desk in this photo. (Source: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)

By the time Richard George Willis will be eligible for parole, he will be 82 years old, just two years younger than Eleanor Harding, the woman he strangled to death with a pair of jeans in her Nova Scotia home four years ago.

In a written decision on Willis’s parole eligibility, Justice James L. Chipman labelled the convicted man’s actions “monstrous and evil” before sentencing him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 20 years.

“Mr. Willis, you committed a brutal, cowardly crime,” Chipman said. “Mr. Willis you literally took the life of a defenseless little old lady for no rhyme or reason. You chose to murder her in cold blood, waking her from her sleep in the sanctity of her own home. Why you wrapped a ligature around her neck and took Eleanor Harding’s life is impossible to fathom.”

According to the decision, a jury convicted Willis of second-degree murder last January.

Chipman said Willis lived on Harding’s street prior to the crime and knew her. In the early morning hours of July 10, 2020, Willis entered Harding’s home through her basement window and strangled her, leaving her body on the hallway floor. He then ransacked her room and stole some of her personal belongings, many of which he threw away on Waverley Road.

Previous reporting noted police found Harding’s body at her home on Lynwood Drive on July 11, 2020. The stories also note Willis was 62 years old at the time of his arrest.

“This was a predatory and disturbing crime – one that shocks not only the Court but the very fabric of our society,” Chipman said.

The decision states prior to the murder, Willis had a criminal record stretching from 1974 to 2019 in Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia. The roughly 36 convictions include aggravated assault, robbery, uttering threats, assault causing bodily harm, and break and enter.

“Mr. Willis has a history of violence against elderly victims – one of the most vulnerable populations in our society,” Chipman said. “He is a dangerous person whose criminality has continued relatively unabated for decades. Separating Mr. Willis from society with the goal of protecting society is of paramount importance.

“It is very concerning that Mr. Willis has continued to prey on elderly victims into his senior years. His past crimes and the subject crime demonstrate both cowardly and predatory behaviour on a most vulnerable sector of society.”

The pre-sentence report in the decision noted Willis suffered alleged sexual abuse at the Shelburne School for Boys and struggled with alcohol and limited education for much of his life.

Numerous family members of Harding read victim impact statements, noting how Willis’s actions left deep wounds in their lives.

“To lose a mother under any circumstance is traumatic, to lose a mother due to someone’s selfish greed and total disregard of a precious life is heart-wrenching,” said Mark Harding and his wife Ruth Harding. “As her family we have had great difficulty processing how anyone could commit such a violent act, particularly on someone so vulnerable.

“Eleanor was happy enjoying simple pleasures like dancing, going out for coffee with friends and the occasional scratch card. She expected to live well into her nineties just like her sisters. She was friendly with all her neighbours, often stopping to chat with them as she did her yard work.”

“I talked to my mom over the phone a week before her murder and I received a card in the mail only days before,” said Derek Harding. “In it she sent a Dairy Queen gift card telling me to enjoy a strawberry Sunday – her favorite. Also in the card were two Polaroid pictures of my two brothers that she wanted me to have.

“I know they say time heals everything, but I miss her everyday and am saddened that I won’t be able to hug her, and I will miss her sense of humor.”

The Crown submitted parole eligibility be restricted to 22 years while the defence requested between 10 and 15 years.

Justice Chipman ultimately settled on 20 years, although he gave Willis four years credit for his jail time since his arrest in 2020.

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