The lawyer of a Thornhill gynecologist convicted of manslaughter in his wife 2003 death has asked for a suspended sentence and probation for his client.
If Justice Jane Ferguson does not agree with that punishment for Dr. Joseph Roncaioli, lawyer J. David Hobson asked her to consider a conditional sentence.
The Crown thinks otherwise.
Dr. Roncaioli came from a “hard working, ambitious, Catholic family” and was a kind brother to his three sisters and paid for their home care when they became ill, Mr. Hobson said.
“To say Dr. Roncaioli was generous with his family is an understatement,” Mr. Hobson told the court.
Mr. Hobson told the court the doctor’s family has described his marriage in negative terms and that his wife, Ibi, was considered incapacitated because of alcohol.
At one point, Dr. Roncaioli felt he was drinking too much himself, took treatment and has not had a problem since, he added.
Mr. Hobson described his client as “addicted to his work”, but he could not take his wife to hospital functions because of her “unpredictability”.
The doctor had heard from others his wife was drinking and taking pills, but he did not see any evidence of that, Mr. Hobson said, adding a friend of Mrs. Roncaioli said they often went gambling together.
“What (Dr. Roncaioli) didn’t know is that his wife committed fraud by forging his signature on a second mortgage and destroying whatever equity was left in the house,” Mr. Hobson told the court.
It was a “perfect storm” of factors and consequences that came together the day of Mrs. Roncaioli’s death, he said.
During the trial, the Crown contended Dr. Roncaioli injected his wife, 66, with a cocktail of anesthetics that led to her death, saying Dr. Roncaioli had motive to kill his wife because she had spent all of his retirement savings.
An autopsy determined Mrs. Roncaioli died from multi-drug intoxication.
Alcohol, along with anesthetics Lidocaine and Bupivacaine, were found in Mrs. Roncaioli’s blood.
Court heard the combination of those two drugs could be fatal.
Mr. Dionne is asking for Dr. Roncaioli to receive a sentence of 10 to 12 years.
In a victim impact statement read by Mr. Dionne, Mrs. Roncaioli’s son, Stelio Zupancich, called his mother’s death “a gut-wrenching experience, shocking and traumatic.”.
Sentencing is expected to wrap up June 5.