Man pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder in strangling of his wife

15-Oct-2025

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An Ottawa man has pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his wife, and has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance to apply for parole for 14 years.

Court heard Tuesday that 61-year-old Robert Rus called 911 the evening of April 5 after strangling his wife, 60-year-old Brenda Rus. He told the dispatcher what he had done, then smoked a cigarette and drank a beer while waiting for police to arrive at their home in Barrhaven.

Robert had tried to stab Brenda with a knife he'd grabbed from their kitchen. Brenda fought back and managed to slap it out of his hand before he strangled her. In his interview with homicide unit Sgt. Anik St-Amour he said he had intended to kill her, and that he had no regrets.

The life sentence is mandatory for second-degree murder, and the parole ineligibility period of 14 years was agreed to by defence lawyer Ewan Lyttle and assistant Crown attorneys Hart Shouldice and Sarah Dolin.

Superior Court Justice Julianne Parfett said that while no sentence would be sufficient for Brenda's family and friends, the 14-year ineligibility period is appropriate. It's more than the minimum 10 years, putting it in line with the harsher punishments expected by the public and doled out by courts in cases of intimate partner violence, but also takes into account the early guilty plea.