82-year-old Ontario woman who killed her husband with a hammer not eligible for parole for 10 years An elderly woman from Brant County, Ont., who was convicted of killing her husband with a hammer will spend 10 years behind bars before she is eligible for parole. A sentencing hearing was held for Elfgard Oughtred on Oct. 14. It was also her 82nd birthday. A frail-looking Elfgard held tight to her walker as she made her way into the courtroom, helped by a pair of special constables. Elfgard was found guilty in April of second-degree murder for the 2022 death of her husband, Gordon Oughtred. An autopsy concluded his death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head. Elfgard’s second-degree murder conviction came with an automatic life sentence. However, a decision still needed to be made about her parole ineligibility, which could range from 10 to 25 years. Justice Aubrey Hilliard heard submissions on Oct. 14. The Crown argued an appropriate parole eligibility would be 14 to 15 years but noted a Charter breach during Elfgard’s time in custody would bring it down to 12 or 13 years. When the jury delivered its verdict, they were given the option to weigh in on Elfgard’s parole eligibility. Eight of the jurors suggested a minimum of 10 years, while three others did not offer a recommendation. Defence counsel Nimrata Sandhu also asked the court for the 10-year minimum. In her submissions, Sandhu cited the “serious” breach of Elfgard’s Charter rights while in custody awaiting trial and noted several mitigating factors, including Elfgard’s age, poor health, lack of criminal history and custodial conditions. Sandhu then asked for the period of parole eligibility to start from the time Elfgard was first taken into police custody on July 9, 2024. That would mean she would not be eligible for parole until July 2034, when she would be 89 years old. “Whether she is actually released remains a matter of the parole board,” Sandhu added. Court hears victim impact statements The court also heard victim impact statements from family members. Crown attorney Jeff Mazin read a statement from Elfgard’s son, Ricky Huellemann, who also wrote on behalf of his sister, Rita. “We have been put through a rollercoaster of emotions during this entire process,” the statement said, in part. “Right away we both suspected (Elfgard’s) involvement in Gordon’s murder but were never absolutely sure.” Ricky’s statement called the process “somewhat stressful for me but more so for my sister,” adding that Rita has since been diagnosed with cancer. “What we have learned through this whole process is how violent the act of murder she committed was,” the statement continued. Ricky also said he and his sister couldn’t believe “that our mother is a cold-blooded killer that committed the crime and then proceeded to the casino in Brantford as if nothing had happened.” Gordon’s son, Warren Oughtred, also submitted a victim impact statement. Warren said, in the days and months following his father’s death, he and his wife took care of Elfgard. “We checked on her daily and even though she was a step-parent, we probably treated her better than our own parents,” the statement read, in part. Warren and his wife looked after Elgard until she was charged with Gordon’s murder. He said the court process, which has spanned more than two years, caused a strain on his marriage, friendships and health. “I have been suffering from constant headaches since this began,” Warren stated. “I had a CT scan and a MRI, but nothing showed up. It is all related to extreme stress.” He also noted his father’s estate had not been settled due to the ongoing court proceedings. “We would like to get everything settled to be able to get on with our lives,” Warren wrote. Judge’s decision Justice Hilliard ultimately decided on 10 years of parole ineligibility. Elfgard must also provide a DNA sample, is prohibited from owning any weapons, and ordered not to contact her children or Gordon’s son, Warren Oughtred. As Warren remains her power of attorney, she is only permitted to reach out to discuss matters related to her property or personal care. CTV News asked the Crown and defense counsel about the Oct. 14 ruling. Both declined to comment on the case. Elfgard and Gordon’s families also turned down a request for an interview. ‘They have devastated a family’: CTV News cameraman hit by vehicle driven around road closed barricade A 65-year-old man was seriously injured after a driver passed a road closed barricade near Shakespeare, Ont. and hit him. The man is Dave Pettitt, a long-time cameraman with CKCO/CTV Kitchener. His family has given CTV News permission to identify him. Pettitt was filming the scene of a three-vehicle crash on Line 34, between Road 102 and 104, on Oct. 15. Ontario Provincial Police had set up road closed barricades in the area while they investigated the collision. They said a driver went through one of those barricades and hit Pettitt. He was taken to a hospital in Stratford with serious, life-threatening injuries. Pettitt’s family got the call on the evening of Oct. 15. “I was told he was alive and that he was being taken care of, but in terms of what that looked like, no one really could say,” Carla Pettitt, Dave’s wife, said. Dave’s family was told he had a head injury, facial fractures, a C1 neck fracture, a shattered elbow and trauma to his leg. Pettitt’s family told CTV News on Oct. 16 his condition had stabilized. A witness told CTV News she saw the collision. “He was wearing a safety vest,” Stacy Koot recalled. “His back was to the traffic, he was right beside the road closed sign so he didn’t know that the car was going to hit him.” Koot said the road was clearly closed. “I thought to myself, ‘He’s coming really fast, should I honk at him?’ But I thought surely there’s no way he’s not going to stop. There’s this huge sign right there,” Koot said. OPP did not share any further details about the collision, including whether any charges would be laid against the driver. “It was a road closed sign barricade, it had flashing lights on it and it’s very distinct,” OPP Sgt. Ed Sanchuk said. “There were orange pylons out in front of it as well.” “I hope that [the driver] really thinks about the actions of what they’ve done because they have devastated a family,” Carla Pettitt said. A dedicated photojournalist Pettitt is known as a talented photojournalist among his colleagues. His dedication for informing the community is clear in every story he covers. “That’s his passion,” Carla Pettitt said. “He’s 65 and he had no intention of retiring.” Dave has been with CTV, and formerly with CKCO, since 1985. Another driver blows by barricade OPP said two drivers went through the road closed signs at Line 34. In a video posted to social media on the night of Oct. 15, Sgt. Ed Sanchuk confirmed there had been second incident at a different barricade. He also said no one was hurt. “Drivers need to slow down and pay attention, so these unnecessary preventable collisions are avoided,” Sanchuk warned. “Driving’s a privilege, not a right. Each and every time you get behind that wheel, always make sure that you put your safety as a priority and always pay attention to your surroundings.” Police are asking anyone who witnessed either collision, has dash cam or security video, to contact investigators at 1-888-310-1122. This is the second time a driver has hit a CTV News Kitchener employee while they were working at a crash site. Reporter Stephanie Villella was hit on March 1, 2023 while she as at a closed road near Brock Road and Maltby Road. Editor’s note: The entire CTV News Kitchener team is keeping Dave and his family in our thoughts. Is it time to change to winter tires? Some drivers in Waterloo Region are making sure their vehicles are winter-ready. “We do have a good chunk of our clientele putting [winter] tires on,” Chris Tsegas, owner of Fowler Tire in Kitchener, said. “Others are getting upset, thinking it’s too early, but what’s going to happen is the first day of snow, they won’t be able to get in anywhere,” he explained. While some people wait until temperatures consistently stay under seven degrees Celsius before booking their appointments, Tsegas said driving on winter tires in warmer weather won’t do as much potential damage as driving in snow without them. “We were at 35 degree weather yesterday and we’re supposed to hit minus two by the weekend. So, you’ve got to be the judge,” he said. One driver told CTV News he’s not taking any chances with the weather’s unpredictability. “In late fall, you never know what you’re going to run into. So the first week of November, me and my brother put them on together,” he said. Depending on mileage, an average set of winter tires can last roughly five to six years before they need to be replaced. “There are some good Chinese tires that they have these days, probably about $800 installed. Whereas, your better-quality ones like Bridgestone and Michelin, they’re probably going to be up to the [$15,00] to $1,800 mark,” Tsegas said. In some cases, putting winter tires on before Nov. 1 could save drivers money through discounts offered by insurance companies. “If you tell them you’ve got your winter tires on and you get into a car accident and you don’t. I think that’s where the liability could be troublesome,” Tsegas warned. Tsegas explained that all-season and all-weather tires are made differently. “A winter tire, the compounds are a lot softer, the siping, the treads, they’re all geared to snow and ice,” he said. So, you won the lottery, now what? Someone could soon claim the largest OLG Lotto Max jackpot in Canadian history. A whooping $90 million was up for grabs in the Oct. 16 draw. “If you have that $90 million ticket, the best thing to do is check it very quickly, put it in a secure location and then contact OLG,” Tony Bitonti, OLG’s director of media relations, said. People can check their tickets using the OLG app, and if they bought their ticket through the app, Bitonti said OLG will automatically know who the winner is. But, anyone who bought a physical ticket will need to reach out to the OLG themselves. “We have all the information about that ticket,” Bitonti said. “We know where it was sold, what time it was sold, what other products – like was there an ENCORE, did you buy a 6/49 ticket? We have all that information about that ticket except one important piece: who that actual person is.” Bitonti said it’s important to get the win on the record with OLG. But some people decide to wait a little and get their thoughts together because once the winner steps forward, plans are put in motion for a large novelty cheque presentation. “It’s good that they do take a few weeks, maybe even a month or two months before they come forward to really think about what they’re going to do,” Bitonti explained. Due to OLG’s transparency obligations, the winner’s first name, last initial and home city are published. The winners are asked to come to the downtown Toronto OLG office for the big moment. “We’ll do a little video, we’ll ask you some fun questions and we’ll share that story with the public,” Bitonti said. “You’ll get some instant recognition out there. Then our winners do go on and live private lives, wonderful lives, and do wonderful things with their money,” he said. Legal and financial advice Many lawyers encourage winners to keep the win private for as long as possible. “You have to understand that once that information is out there, it’s going to spread like wildfire,” Shahriar Jahanshahi, principal lawyer with Jahanshahi Law Firm, said. “The next thing I would recommend is not to make any immediate financial commitments.” He said one of the first things a winner should do is find an extremely safe place for the ticket. Then, experts said the winner should assemble a team including lawyers, accountants, estate planners and insurance and financial advisors. “Interview several individuals, because it’s about trust and the relationship you have with that individual,” Kate Childerhose, a financial advisor with financial services firm Edward Jones, said. “Ask people that you know and love and trust, ‘Who do you work with?’” If someone wins the Oct. 16 jackpot, that kind of money can change their life almost overnight. But it can also draw some unwanted attention. “I think a lot of us, if we just win $90 million, all of a sudden, we need to be cognizant of our security,” Jahanshahi said. “So that includes your online security and making sure that your home is protected.” Jahanshahi said winners should also be on the lookout for fraudsters who want to take those winnings away. Common disputes The OLG often hears from winners who received their tickets as a gift. In that case, the OLG will take steps to ensure the person who bought the ticket signs a document acknowledging the person they gave the ticket to actually owns the winnings. When it comes to large lottery pools, such as a group of coworkers who buy tickets together, the OLG will make sure everyone who comes forward actually bought into the pool. “We need to ensure that there is a group captain that takes care of the tickets and make sure the players have put in their money,” Bitonti said. The OLG offers a lottery group play form through its website. “We can’t control all of these office pools, but we want to make sure that they are organized, that all the players know if they’re in the group, what tickets they have, what the numbers are, and we do interview all of the members of that group to ensure that they are members of the group,” Bitonti said. ‘He was a big character’: Friend remembers Guelph, Ont. pilot, business owner killed in plane crash near Fergus A longtime friend is remembering Steve Zago as a passionate aviator, a devoted business partner and a man whose outgoing personality helped make Lost Aviator Coffee Co. a fixture in the Guelph, Ont., community. Zago, along with another experienced pilot, both died on Oct. 9 after a small plane crashed into a field and caught fire near Fergus, Ont., according to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). Emergency crews were called shortly after 10 a.m. to the area of Beatty Line and Wellington Road 17, north of Fergus. Both occupants were pronounced dead at the scene. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) identified the aircraft as an amateur-built Skybolt biplane. It departed Fergus’s Juergensen Field airport at about 10 a.m. for a local aerobatic training flight with the two experienced pilots aboard. The aircraft crashed into a cornfield about two kilometres north of the airfield and came to rest upside down, the TSB said. The fire was extinguished by emergency crews. The TSB said it would continue gathering and analysing information in the coming weeks. Investigators have not released a cause of the crash. A friendship built through aviation For Adam Wright, Zago’s longtime friend and business partner, the loss is both personal and professional. “It’s just not going to be the same,” Wright told CTV News. “Steve’s been my other half. I’ve joked about him being my coffee wife. I can’t imagine doing it without him.” The two met through aviation in 2006 and later worked together in the airline industry before building Lost Aviator Coffee Co. during the COVID-19 pandemic, when much of the aviation sector was grounded. “It’s been a fantastic partnership,” Wright said. “It’s been so much fun doing that with my friend. Steve has been nothing but a pleasure to have as a business partner. And I don’t think either us could ever have done this alone.” When the pandemic disrupted their careers, the pair turned their attention to coffee. They launched Lost Aviator online, roasting coffee for long hours in the basement of With the Grain Bakery before moving to a York Road location in 2021 and opening a café. Wright described Zago as the more extroverted half of the partnership, someone who naturally connected with people and helped shape the company’s approach to customer service and hiring. “I think by nature, I’m more of an introvert. And Steve, there’s absolutely no doubt that he’s an extrovert. And so that was such a great pairing.” ‘A hammer blow to the chest’ Wright said he learned about the crash through a mutual friend and tried calling Zago and his wife before heading to the airport. He had heard that Zago was going for an aerobatic lesson. After checking with the café and finding no one who had seen him, Wright drove to the airport, where he learned that Zago and the other pilot were the two people aboard the aircraft. The confirmation was devastating. He described the loss as “a hammer blow to the chest.” In the days since the crash, Wright said, the volume of condolences has offered a glimpse of just how many people Zago touched through his friendships, aviation connections and business. “He was a big character. Beautiful person. His departure left a big void,” Wright said. Zago had bought an aerobatic plane the previous year and was taking lessons. “This was all new to him. And so he methodically went about learning to fly the airplane safely and then he wanted to see what all the capabilities of the airplane were.,” he explained. “So, he had hired a new robotics instructor to give him lessons, privately.” A community mourning a familiar face News of Zago’s death has prompted tributes from people in Guelph and the wider aviation community. Guelph Mayor Cam Guthrie posted a tribute online, describing Zago as a local entrepreneur who was widely known and loved across the city. “Steve was so positive and instilled a mindset into his store(s) and to others that was contagious,” Guthrie wrote. He also highlighted Zago’s willingness to support other businesses and help people in need. “He literally always gave to others in need and helped promote so many other businesses in Guelph,” Guthrie wrote. The Waterloo Warbirds also posted a statement online, saying they were “heartbroken” to hear of the passing of their fellow team member. “Steve joined Waterloo Warbirds in 2017 and was a valued member of the team in countless capacities. In addition to assisting with flight operations that helped hundreds of passengers experience once-in-a-lifetime flights, Steve participated in restoration projects that helped grow our fleet,” the post read in part. “The Waterloo Warbirds team extends our deepest condolences to Steve’s wife Holly, his family, Lost Aviator business partner and friend Adam, their staff and his friends and colleagues. We also share our condolences with the family and friends of the second pilot who lost their life in the accident. Steve will be missed by all of us at Waterloo Warbirds. Blue skies, Steve!” Looking ahead for Lost Aviator Coffee Co. Wright said the business plans to continue operating, although it will not be the same without Zago. Zago’s wife is expected to help represent his voice in the business as the company moves ahead. For Wright, the challenge will be continuing a business that grew out of a friendship and a shared love of aviation. “We’re going to do tributes to Steve in the ways that present themselves and that are appropriate. I don’t know what those are yet, but we’ll do him justice,” he said.
