Pastor drowned pregnant wife: Crown

[spaminator]

Baptist minister planned pregnant wife's murder: Crown
By Sam Pazzano, Toronto Sun
First posted: Friday, November 28, 2014 09:55 PM EST | Updated: Friday, November 28, 2014 10:04 PM EST
A cheating Baptist minister “used himself as a guinea pig” before he drugged and drowned his pregnant wife in a bathtub, a Crown attorney said Friday.
In her closing jury address, Crown attorney Donna Kellway said Philip Grandine researched his crime, planned it and then murdered his wife Karissa on Oct. 17, 2011 to prolong his affair with his mistress Eileen Florentino.
“He planned the crime by researching various drugs at his disposal through his employment as a nurse-supervisor at the O’Neil Centre, and he used the access ... to his ultimate chosen murder weapons, lorazepam and water,” said Kellway.
Grandine, 28, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of the 29-year-old woman, who was 20 weeks pregnant at the time.
Four days before her demise, Grandine took the drug himself “to check out how it would actually work on his own body and upon verifying the drug’s effects on himself, he then took a trial run at his wife,” said Kellway.
The couple had been undergoing marriage counselling with Pastor Steven Hadfield after Grandine admitted his affair with Florentino, a parishoner and Karissa’s friend.
Philip Grandine was banned from watching pornography as a condition of his marital counselling. His wife installed a filter on their computer to enforce that ban, court heard.
On Oct. 13, 2011, Hadfield attended the couple’s last session and observed that Grandine, an abstainer, “appeared under the influence of something, had slurred speech, seemed drowsy and nodded off occasionally.
“He was not on alcohol and he was clearly not himself. Karissa had no difficulties during this session,” said Kellway.
Grandine afterwards gave Karissa a banana smoothie spiked with lorazepam, alleged Kellway.
Karissa was ill, but not apparently drugged. She stayed the next night in hospital while Grandine spent the night making love to his mistress at his Marsh Rd. home, court heard.
Later, the husband lied to his mistress “that the counselling session ended because his wife had been falling asleep.
“He appears to have been deliberately misleading his mistress ... attempting to pass off the way his wife was feeling on Friday as something that developed in the presence of Pastor Hadfield,” said Kellway.
The prosecutor said Grandine lied about “jogging” for an hour when he murdered his wife to concoct an alibi.
He uninstalled the pornography filter within an hour of phoning 911 for his wife “because he knew his wife was never getting out of that tub alive,” said Kellway.
“This act of the removal of the filter on its own demonstrates that Grandine had the intent to kill,” said Kellway.
The jury will begin its deliberations Tuesday.
sam.pazzano@sunmedia.ca
Baptist minister planned pregnant wife's murder: Crown | Home | Toronto Sun

 

[Sal]

On Oct. 13, 2011, Hadfield attended the couple’s last session and observed that Grandine, an abstainer, “appeared under the influence of something, had slurred speech, seemed drowsy and nodded off occasionally.
“He was not on alcohol and he was clearly not himself. Karissa had no difficulties during this session,” said Kellway.
Grandine afterwards gave Karissa a banana smoothie spiked with lorazepam, alleged Kellway.
Karissa was ill, but not apparently drugged. She stayed the next night in hospital while Grandine spent the night making love to his mistress at his Marsh Rd. home, court heard.
Later, the husband lied to his mistress “that the counselling session ended because his wife had been falling asleep.
“He appears to have been deliberately misleading his mistress ... attempting to pass off the way his wife was feeling on Friday as something that developed in the presence of Pastor Hadfield,” said Kellway.
The prosecutor said Grandine lied about “jogging” for an hour when he murdered his wife to concoct an alibi.
He uninstalled the pornography filter within an hour of phoning 911 for his wife “because he knew his wife was never getting out of that tub alive,” said Kellway.
“This act of the removal of the filter on its own demonstrates that Grandine had the intent to kill,” said Kellway.
The jury will begin its deliberations Tuesday.

this guy is a real charmer

 

[Harikrish]

this guy is a real charmer

Are you suggesting the other guy was not!! And that was why he was crucified. Jesus certainly lacked communication skills and was incoherent most of the time.

Mark 4:34 In fact, in his public ministry he never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.

1. So unless you were his disciple. Jesus's teachings remain unexplained to the public.

Luke 18:31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.
33 On the third day he will rise again."
34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

2. Even the disciples did not understand and did not know what Jesus was talking about even after the resurrection. So Jesus never got over his bad habit of speaking in parables and remained inarticulate, incoherent.

Luke 8:10 He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, "'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.

3. Now it is not Jesus's explanation that can reveal to the disciples, but God has to give them that knowledge. Because Jesus only speaks in parables.


John 16: 25 "Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.


4. A time will come when Jesus will speak plainly, coherently. But unfortunately Jesus was put to death before he could. The time for Jesus speaking plainly has passed. Check point 2.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Are you suggesting the other guy was not!!

Um. . . no. Saying that one guy is "a real charmer" is suggesting nothing at all about other guys. Try to find a sturdier hook for your hate.

 

[Harikrish]

Um. . . no. Saying that one guy is "a real charmer" is suggesting nothing at all about other guys. Try to find a sturdier hook for your hate.

It is saying a lot about our justice system. A charming married murderer is less likely to be put to death than a incoherent unmarried blasphemer. So not only was Jesus a poor communicator, he also lacked social skills . His disciples were not any brighter or they would have told him he was in the wrong profession (preaching) when he should have stayed in the carpentry trade and followed Joseph instead of some delusional messianic aspirations. Any wonder why his disciples were eventually put to death too.

 

[taxslave]

It is saying a lot about our justice system. A charming married murderer is less likely to be put to death than a incoherent unmarried blasphemer. So not only was Jesus a poor communicator, he also lacked social skills . His disciples were not any brighter or they would have told him he was in the wrong profession (preaching) when he should have stayed in the carpentry trade and followed Joseph instead of some delusional messianic aspirations. Any wonder why his disciples were eventually put to death too.

Dude we have not had a death penalty for over 40 years and there is no such crime as blasphemy. Do try and get in the right millennia and country.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

It is saying a lot about our justice system. A charming married murderer is less likely to be put to death than a incoherent unmarried blasphemer. So not only was Jesus a poor communicator, he also lacked social skills . His disciples were not any brighter or they would have told him he was in the wrong profession (preaching) when he should have stayed in the carpentry trade and followed Joseph instead of some delusional messianic aspirations. Any wonder why his disciples were eventually put to death too.

Since when is this thread about Jesus?

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Since when is this thread about Jesus?

This thread is about the sensuous delights of the lovely ladies of CanCon.

Try to stay on topic, will you?

 

[Twila]

I think bringing religion or jesus into this discussion allows for removal of responsibility from the individual involved.

This has nothing to do with religion.

 

[Sal]

Are you suggesting the other guy was not!! And that was why he was crucified. Jesus certainly lacked communication skills and was incoherent most of the time.

Mark 4:34 In fact, in his public ministry he never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.

1. So unless you were his disciple. Jesus's teachings remain unexplained to the public.

Luke 18:31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
32 He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.
33 On the third day he will rise again."
34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.

2. Even the disciples did not understand and did not know what Jesus was talking about even after the resurrection. So Jesus never got over his bad habit of speaking in parables and remained inarticulate, incoherent.

Luke 8:10 He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, "'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.

3. Now it is not Jesus's explanation that can reveal to the disciples, but God has to give them that knowledge. Because Jesus only speaks in parables.


John 16: 25 "Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.


4. A time will come when Jesus will speak plainly, coherently. But unfortunately Jesus was put to death before he could. The time for Jesus speaking plainly has passed. Check point 2.

nope

 

[Mowich]

You have not realized the gravity of the situation. Christians are a minority group in a multicultural secular country like Canada. A pastor killing his wife and being unfaithful as well is something one would expect from Americans, where 70% of Americans are Christians and these indiscretions can be easily absorbed. But Canada is not as insulated from such hypocrisy and it adds to the national inferiority complex so pervasive among Canadians.

Too bad Canada views jihadist unfavourably or applying a few verses of the Sharia law and a small public stoning at the pastors church might put this to rest and win many more Muslim converts and immigrants. Just saying.......

So, following your line of reasoning, Christian American pastors are more prone to murder their wives then Canadian Christian pastors. Since when did these chaps become a separate species? Everyone has the potential to become a murderer dude - even you. Race, religion, color.............no matter.

"indiscretions can be easily absorbed". Really, a woman is killed and it's an indiscretion. As far as the absorbed part, I really lost you on that one. I got this image of a giant sponge slurping around the US sucking up all the bad stuff.

Good frickin' grief. Too bad we view jihadists unfavorably??? Apply Sharia law? Now the public humiliation, I can back that one though rotten eggs and tomatoes would do. Win many more Muslim converts and immigrants to what??



Just saying...

I am sure if Jesus had a choice to do it all over again. He would chose to remain anonymous!!!! Being God carries risks as he discovered.

Yeah...........well.............but ..............doesn't that kind of defeat his whole purpose???

All the research couldn't replace your personal experience. We wouldn't expect you to change anything. Just give us the details as it happened.

This is just plain creepy.

The pastor will still go to heaven despite his heinous crime because according to the scriptures all sins are forgivable except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 12:31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

How old are you?

 

[Sal]

How old are you?

bingo

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

"indiscretions can be easily absorbed". Really, a woman is killed and it's an indiscretion.

Well, yes. Not as bad as, say, farting in church, but really not the sort of thing one expects in the better circles.

 

[Mowich]

Well, yes. Not as bad as, say, farting in church, but really not the sort of thing one expects in the better circles.

Way back when I was a practicing Catholic, I well remember how the younger boys would love to fart on the wooden benches in our church. More than that I remember how hard it was to hold our giggles in when it happened. I even caught my Dad with a bit of a smile once when the priest was droning on and on during the sermon and a very loud report caused him some visible discomfort.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Way back when I was a practicing Catholic, I well remember how the younger boys would love to fart on the wooden benches in our church. More than that I remember how hard it was to hold our giggles in when it happened. I even caught my Dad with a bit of a smile once when the priest was droning on and on during the sermon and a very loud report caused him some visible discomfort.

You Canadians are such scamps!

 

[gerryh]

Way back when I was a practicing Catholic, I well remember how the younger boys would love to fart on the wooden benches in our church. More than that I remember how hard it was to hold our giggles in when it happened. I even caught my Dad with a bit of a smile once when the priest was droning on and on during the sermon and a very loud report caused him some visible discomfort.

I remember one very hot Sunday.... sitting in Mass while the Priest was preparing communion........ my Father leaned over to my Grandmother and said......


Dad: You'd think considering how hot and thirsty we all are that he would offer us some of that wine.
Gramma: Ya, talk about incondierate


Mother: Would you two be quite!!!!!


Needless to say, my mother was not impressed with her mother and her husband. lol

 

[shadowshiv]

Way back when I was a practicing Catholic, I well remember how the younger boys would love to fart on the wooden benches in our church. More than that I remember how hard it was to hold our giggles in when it happened. I even caught my Dad with a bit of a smile once when the priest was droning on and on during the sermon and a very loud report caused him some visible discomfort.

That will teach the priest to eat baked beans before he does the sermon.


Beans, beans, the magical fruit. The more you eat,the more you toot. The more you toot, the better you feel. So let's have beans for every meal! That priest took that poem to heart...and sphincter.

 

[Harikrish]

Way back when I was a practicing Catholic, I well remember how the younger boys would love to fart on the wooden benches in our church. More than that I remember how hard it was to hold our giggles in when it happened. I even caught my Dad with a bit of a smile once when the priest was droning on and on during the sermon and a very loud report caused him some visible discomfort.

Who is the joke on? The reason priests wear those loose garments and burn incense sticks is to clear the air around them when they fart before a disinterested congregation.

 

[spaminator]

Pastor guilty of manslaughter, not murder in wife's death
By Sam Pazzano, Toronto Sun
First posted: Thursday, December 04, 2014 02:35 PM EST | Updated: Thursday, December 04, 2014 08:14 PM EST
TORONTO - A Baptist pastor and nurse was found guilty Thursday of manslaughter in the 2011 drugging and drowning of his pregnant wife Karissa in their Scarborough home.


After only two days of deliberations, a jury reached its verdict against Philip Grandine, 28, and acquitted him of first-degree murder.


The Crown alleged it had been a planned and deliberate killing so that Grandine could pursue his affair with another woman.


Grandine, who has been free on bail for two and a half years and living under house arrest at his parents’ home near Brantford, lost his freedom immediately as Justice Robert Clark revoked his bail and set Dec. 11 as the sentencing date.


“He has been convicted in a culpable, domestic homicide and faces a substantial lengthy sentence of incarceration,” Crown attorney Donna Kellway said.


But the manslaughter verdict spared Grandine the harshest sentence possible — life imprisonment with no parole for 25 years.


Grandine, who maintained he was innocent, asserted his wife either killed herself or died accidentally by drowning in their bathtub after taking a sedative.


She was 29 years old and 20 weeks pregnant when she died on Oct. 17, 2011.


Kellway and co-counsel Patrick Woods alleged Grandine took the lorazepam from a seniors’ home where he worked as a nurse, laced his wife’s banana smoothie with the drug in a dry run three days before her death, then again gave her the drug and either carried or coaxed her into the tub.


He had also researched the fatal dose of the drug and tried it on himself before drugging his wife, court was told.


Grandine was having an affair with parishioner Eileen Florentino, who was Karissa’s friend. When he divulged the affair, he was forced to step down as a pastor at the Ennerdale Baptist Church, court heard.


He started marriage counselling and as a precondition, he was ordered to stop watching pornography. His wife installed a filter on their home computer to curb his habit.


Less than an hour before he phoned 911 to report his wife was lifeless under the bath water, the computer filter was uninstalled, court heard.


When Grandine left the police station hours after Karissa’s death, he had sex with his mistress. He had been on the phone with her for 30 minutes in the hour before he discovered his wife’s body in the tub, the trial was told.


Outside court following the decision, Karissa’s mom and sister remembered her as a kind and generous person.


“We know that God is in control of the situation and we are ever grateful for everyone’s thoughts and prayers,” younger sister Hannah Darvin, 27, said standing beside heartbroken mom Maria.


Grandine’s lawyer, Amit Thakore, said his client was “absorbing the day’s events” following the verdict.


“The jury found he had no intention to kill and for that I am grateful,” Thakore said, noting the verdict blames Grandine for allowing his wife “to go to the bathtub and that’s a far cry from what the prosecution has alleged.”


sam.pazzano@sunmedia.ca
Pastor guilty of manslaughter, not murder in wife's death | Toronto & GTA | News

No justice for pastor's wife

By Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun
First posted: Thursday, December 04, 2014 08:59 PM EST | Updated: Friday, December 05, 2014 07:19 AM EST
TORONTO - First she was murdered, now she gets no justice.


It’s like Anna Karissa Grandine’s grave is being spit on. The worst way a person can be victimized is what happened to the 29-year-old who came to Canada from Pasay City in the Philippines with her family for a better life.


She certainly did not find it.


It’s a sickening case. Does it get any lower?


It’s not every day a jury hears evidence that a guy not only drugged his pregnant wife in an attempt to kill her but also staged a practice run just days before — what the Crown called a “dress rehearsal.”


And despite being trained as a nurse, the killer did nothing to try save her from the bathtub.


He didn’t pull the plug to empty the water. He didn’t apply his training in mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.


And later the same night he was having sex with his mistress.


All of that, but the jury didn’t see fit to find the accused guilty of murder.


This jury came back after two days of deliberating with a manslaughter verdict.


Jaws dropped Thursday when the jury in former pastor Philip Grandine’s first-degree murder trial came back with the stunning decision that could see him set free in as few as seven years.


“You never know what can happen with a jury,” said Toronto defence counsel Calvin Barry, who was also a senior Crown. “We are not allowed to delve into their deliberations. Maybe this should change some day. As a Crown attorney I lost cases I thought were in the bag and as a defence counsel the same has occurred.”


Crime specialist Ross McLean had nothing but praise for the policing.


“Toronto Police did outstanding work from the 911 operator who took the killer’s call, to first officers on scene, to the diligent homicide team, this was a case built on evidence, proper procedure, and instinct,” said McLean who is an analyst for the Sun News Network and a former cop.


“This is about as good as it gets in police work,” he said. “The officers can sleep well tonight. They did not get the verdict they deserved, but they did justice for the victim, a pregnant young woman stealthily deceived and killed by her husband.”


Soft spoken and calm, the victim’s sister Hannah Darvin and their mother Maria Charito Darvin would not respond when asked about their reaction.


They read a benign statement and left the courthouse looking defeated and devastated but never putting it into words.


In a lot of ways what she didn’t say spoke volumes. On this outrage, what the hell can you say?


Other than from a lot of people who were not on that jury: RIP Anna Karissa.​


joe.warmington@sunmedia.ca
No justice for pastor's wife | Warmington | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun

 

[spaminator]

Pastor played 'Russian roulette' with wife, sentencing told
By Sam Pazzano, Toronto Sun
First posted: Thursday, December 11, 2014 06:18 PM EST | Updated: Thursday, December 11, 2014 06:21 PM EST
TORONTO - A Baptist pastor “played a dangerous game of Russian roulette” with his pregnant wife so that he could chat with his mistress or look at porn on the computer, a Crown attorney charged Thursday.
Philip Grandine, who’s also a nurse, was found guilty eight days ago of manslaughter in the drugging and drowning of his wife Karissa Grandine, who was 29 years old and 20 weeks pregnant, in October 2011.
Crown attorney Donna Kellway said Grandine “played a dangerous game of Russian roulette with his wife for nothing more than to talk with his mistress (Eileen Florentino) or surf for pornography.
“While there is no gun, knife, beer bottle or metal bar, lorazepam was indeed a weapon,” said Kellway, who is urging Justice Robert Clark to impose a 15 to 18-year sentence against Grandine, 28.
After only two days of deliberations, a jury acquitted Grandine of first-degree murder, instead convicting him of the lesser offence of manslaughter.
Crown attorneys Kellway and Patrick Woods alleged this was a planned and deliberate killing so that Grandine could pursue his affair.
“Grandine had a plan — not to kill her as the jury found — but to drug his pregnant wife, who without her knowledge or consent was given a drug” that is not usually prescribed for expectant women, Kellway said.
She said that Grandine violated many trusts, including one as a health-care professional, when he stole the lorazepam from his seniors’ home workplace.
Grandine also betrayed his trust to his wife when he plied her with the drug three days before her death on Oct. 17, 2011, said Kellway.
He pre-tested lorazepam’s effects by taking it himself earlier.
When his affair was discovered, Grandine had to step down as a pastor and started marriage counselling, court heard.
As a pre-condition of the marriage counselling, Karissa installed a filter on their home computer to prevent her husband from watching pornography but that filter was de-activated less than an hour before Grandine reported his wife was lifeless in the bathtub.
Two firefighters found Karissa with her head under the faucet end of the tub.
Grandine, who maintained he was innocent, asserted that his wife either killed herself or died accidentally by drowning after taking a sedative.
His lawyer Amit Thakore is asking for a sentence in the range of six months to two years.
Clark will sentence Grandine on Jan. 9.
sam.pazzano@sunmedia.ca
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Pastor played 'Russian roulette' with wife, sentencing told | Toronto & GTA | Ne

Disgraced pastor hears from victim's loved ones

By Michele Mandel, Toronto Sun
First posted: Thursday, December 11, 2014 11:49 AM EST | Updated: Thursday, December 11, 2014 08:24 PM EST
TORONTO - Her friend said what many of us were thinking, his tone of disgust and anger reverberating through the shocked courtroom.
Before him ex-pastor and former nurse Philip Grandine sat in the prisoner’s box at last: now that he was convicted of manslaughter in the drowning death of his pregnant wife Karissa, he could no longer sit at the lawyers’ table as if he were some earnest law student taking notes. But even though he now entered this room wearing handcuffs, he still lolled as if he had no care in the world, sitting back in his chair, not a glimmer of emotion crossing that empty face, even as his tearful mother-in-law and sister-in-law told the court of the anguish they feel.
So when church leader Cliff McDowell took the stand to deliver his victim impact statement, his fury was barely contained.
“Make sure you look at me, you coward,” McDowell hissed.
It was enough to make you applaud. For that is the best description of Grandine, a coward, this would-be man of God who surfed porn and escort sites and conducted a torrid affair with a parishioner — all while his wife stood stoically by her man and excitedly planned for the birth of the child she’d nicknamed Jellybean. A coward who chose to get out of his marriage by slipping Lorazepam into a smoothie and delivering it to the woman who still loved and trusted him, despite the shame and humiliation he’d heaped upon her in their church community.
When Karissa found out about his illicit sexual liaison, she forgave him, put a pornography lock on their computer and attended counselling to save their troubled marriage. But Grandine was more interested in being free to have sex in his car with his mistress and to visit to****s.com.
“I was shocked and had a sick feeling the morning I got the call about her death,” McDowell recalled. “How could this happen? This precious giving soul was taken by a murderer.”
And yet a jury found he was guilty only of manslaughter.
Karissa, 29, was described as a brilliant, loving, religious mother-to-be who was excited about learning the sex of her baby at her upcoming doctor’s appointment. But she would never make it. On Oct. 17, 2011, the insurance underwriter was “discovered” drowned in her bathtub by her husband, a nurse who made no effort to resuscitate her.
“What possessed Karissa to have a bath when it was never her habit to have a bath?” cried her mother Maria Darvin, as she recalled all the questions that plagued her after her daughter’s sudden death. “She was a woman who preferred showers to baths. What did he do to try and save her? How long was Karissa in the bath, lifeless, before she was discovered? Was she conscious for long? Did she suffer for long? All these ran through my mind. I felt anger in myself for not being there for Karissa; and a sense of betrayal for Philip as her husband, and not being able to save her.”
Darvin brought her two daughters here from the Philippines in 1994 and raised them on her own. Her firstborn was going to have her own child — a daughter as they would find out after her death — and she was so excited to be a grandmother. Now her life lies in tatters. She placed a framed graduation photo of Karissa on the witness stand beside her, but Grandine averted his gaze.
“As a mother I cannot express the devastation and anguish that was brought about by this terrible act of violence,” she said. “This despicable act was done against God, Karissa, her unborn baby, and the rest of society, therefore there must be a ‘just’ punishment for such a heinous act.”
The Crown asked Justice Robert Clark for a 15-18 year prison term for this “near murder.” His lawyer had the nerve to suggest a six-to-24 month sentence would suffice.
Younger sister Hannah Darvin was away in England when she got the devastating news. “When Karissa was married, I stood beside her as her maid of honour,” she said. “Three years later, I found myself standing beside her in the exact same spot, this time for her funeral.”
For months after, she would ring Karissa’s cellphone, just so she could listen to her voice on her message. They were supposed to grow old together, raise their children and dote on their grandchildren. “Her absence in my life and the life of all that knew her is a stark and gaping hole that makes one feel like a sighted man suddenly struck blind.”
And what makes it worse is that the man who vowed to love and protect her is responsible for her death.
Lynette Him tried to save her. “I am ... plagued by regret,” her close friend wept. “I regret that I didn’t get Karissa out of that house.”
They were supposed to meet for dinner and she was going to tell her that she and her husband wanted her to move in with them. But Karissa died before she had a chance to hear her plans. “I feel so sick that I missed my opportunity to have this conversation. I feel like I should have done better to protect my friend.”
But it’s unlikely Karissa would have left her cheating husband.
As her cousin Anthony Refrente said in his filed victim impact statement, when she committed to something, “she was all in.”
Grandine rewarded that loyalty by causing her death and cashing in a $75,000 life insurance policy. “Knowing now that it was caused by her husband makes it incomprehensible, unjustifiable and outright evil,” her cousin wrote.
Grandine had fooled so many. Church deacon Robert Steeves had recommended Grandine take over when their pastor retired at Ennerdale Baptist Church where Karissa and her family once attended. “Her love for Ennerdale and her character played a big role when we called him to be our pastor. We thought we were getting a good pastor but we knew we were getting a great pastor’s wife.”
Even when Grandine’s affair was exposed and he had to resign, Steeves said Karissa forgave both her husband and the other woman and was determined to make her marriage work, “despite Philip’s continued failings.”
But no amount of determination and faith could save her. And those left behind are shattered not only by her death, but by the man they thought they knew.
“I am ashamed that I was fooled and betrayed by the clean-cut persona he wanted everyone to believe,” Steeves told the court. “He seemed like such a clean-cut guy who had the trust of everyone, but all along he was fooling and lying to me by not only doing the despicable things he did, but committing this crime.”
Grandine will learn his fate in January. In the meantime, the disgraced pastor will spend his first Christmas season locked behind bars.
Read Mandel Wednesday through Saturday.
michele.mandel@sunmedia.ca
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Disgraced pastor hears from victim's loved ones | MANDEL | Toronto & GTA | News