Man convicted of strangling elderly Nova Scotia woman denied appeal

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal is pictured on Oct. 10, 2025. (CTV Atlantic / Jonathan MacInnis)

A man who received a life sentence for strangling an elderly Dartmouth, N.S., woman in her home recently had his appeal denied.

Richard Willis, 67, was convicted of second-degree murder after a jury trial in January 2024 and was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 20 years in July of that year.

“I am acutely aware that if (Willis) is unable to advance a meritorious appeal he will likely remain incarcerated for the remainder of his life,” said Justice Cindy Bourgeois in a written decision.

Bourgeois rejected Willis’s motion for appeal last month, saying he did not provide enough evidence as to why he delayed submitting the motion, nor did he offer substantial grounds for the appeal.

Woman murdered

According to the written decision, the body of Eleanor Harding, who was in her 80s, was found in her Dartmouth home with a pair of jeans wrapped around her neck on the morning of July 11, 2020. She had been strangled to death.

Nearly 20 days later, Richard Willis was arrested and charged for her murder.

At the trial, according to the decision, the Crown submitted evidence that a fedora-style hat and an LG cellphone were found below the basement window of Harding’s home. Willis’s DNA was found on the inside rim of the hat as well as on the jeans. The cellphone had user accounts for Richard Willis.

The decision notes Willis’s defence did not call evidence but stressed he had lived on the same street as the victim for years and the DNA could have “been deposited” at the home during an earlier interaction.

The jury found Willis guilty of second-degree murder after two days of deliberations.

Appeal delay

In his application, Willis said he wanted to file an appeal within the required appeal period, but his incarceration and his level of understanding stopped him from doing so.

“It is Mr. Willis’ burden to establish there is a reasonable excuse for the delay,” the decision reads. “The period of delay runs from September 5, 2024 to the filing of Mr. Willis’ amended motion documents on February 13, 2026. That is a total delay of 356 days – a significant passage of time especially in light of the appeal period being a mere 25 days.”

Bourgeois said there was reasonable excuse for some but not all of the delay, noting Willis received a transcript of the trial in June 2025 but did not submit the motion until February of this year.

“A motion to extend time where an appeal period has been missed is a serious matter to be dealt with expeditiously,” the written decision reads. “This is especially so where the motion is being advanced well after the expiry of the appeal period, and the Crown has signalled its intent to oppose it. Mr. Willis has not demonstrated a reasonable excuse for the delay beyond that conceded by the Crown.”

Bourgeois further noted Willis’s appeal did not seek to challenge the DNA evidence submitted in the original trial.

“In my view, the strength of the Crown’s case at trial is another relevant factor in the present matter,” the decision reads. “The DNA and other evidence linking Mr. Willis to the murder was significant and compelling. None of the grounds of appeal proposed by Mr. Willis seek to challenge the admissibility, reliability or veracity of this evidence which was, in reaching its verdict, obviously accepted by the jury.

“The proposed grounds of appeal are not of sufficient substance to be capable, in the context of this case, to convince a panel of the Court to allow the appeal either in whole or in part.”

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