Today in the Court of the King’s Bench, a man was given a life sentence for his role in the death of his wife, Cindy MacKay. Michael MacKay, 41, of the Meota area, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of his wife, Cindy MacKay. He changed his plea to one of second-degree murder instead.
The Crown and the defense agreed, and Justice M.L. Dovell accepted their joint recommendation of life in prison without the possibility of parole for at least ten years. MacKay was not only banned from possessing weapons but was also required to produce a DNA sample.
The 38-year-old Cindy MacKay was rushed to the emergency room on February 7, 2020. She later died in hospital on Feb. 12, 2020. Strychnine poisoning was determined to be the cause of her death.
Take a look at given tweet below:
The truth of what happened to Cindy MacKay: Sask. man admits he poisoned wife https://t.co/mu2rNMHBak pic.twitter.com/dCdgirTieA
— National Post (@nationalpost) November 21, 2023
On the morning of February 7, 2020, at their family farm near Meota, Michael MacKay allegedly gave Cindy a drink containing the poisonous insecticide strychnine in an amount he knew would be lethal, as stated in an agreed statement of facts given in court by Crown prosecutor Oryn Holm.
She plunged into medical trouble soon after ingesting the beverage. MacKay contacted emergency services since Cindy was feeling ill and needed help. They have three little girls, and one of them was there. Cindy was rushed to the Battlefords Union Hospital in the arriving ambulance. Later, she was moved to Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital (RUH).
Cindy’s health continued to decline, so on February 12, 2020, she had her life support turned off. While Cindy was still alive on February 10, 2020, RUH staff reported a suspicious case to the RCMP. MacKay denied providing Cindy strychnine and said she may have committed herself in two comments to police during the investigation.
The statement of facts submitted to the court indicated that Michael MacKay was having an informal relationship. It also noted that on Feb. 6, 2020, a day before he poisoned his wife, he texted the lady he was connected with, saying: “Goodbye will likely be in the next few days.”
As the judge began her remarks, she proclaimed, “This is the most tragic of cases.” After Cindy MacKay’s trial, her family discussed their search for closure. Holm told the press that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case.
Cindy MacKay’s family talks about finding justice after Michael MacKay was sentenced to imprisonment after pleading guilty to second degree murder in his wife’s death. pic.twitter.com/zxCUs2UyKu
— Angela Brown (@OCoureurDesBois) November 20, 2023
“It was a truly circumstantial case,” he said. “It’s one where sometimes we will have people who see things or can tell us things that are more literally direct. This one was purely circumstantial. No one had seen him do the action. He had never confided in anyone he had done the action. There was nothing in his devices that there was any type of plan. It was a truly circumstantial case.”
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Holm stated that a number of suspicious events occurred, and “that gave us the Crown theory that led to charges.” He pointed out the dangers of going to trial with only circumstantial evidence. As Holm elaborated, strychnine toxicity is extremely rare.
“In my career, I’ve been a prosecutor for almost 10 years now, and I’ve never seen it,” he said. “Strychnine poisoning is extremely rare. If the trial had run we would have heard some evidence from the toxicologist. While these things do happen, you are talking about one or two a year. So the fact that that was the poison used in this case does make it extremely rare.”
