OttawaA 61-year-old Ottawa man has pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his wife of nearly 30 years, and has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance to apply for parole for 14 years.Brenda Rus, 60, was strangled the evening of April 5, 2025.Kristy Nease · CBC News · Posted: Oct 14, 2025 4:09 PM EDT | Last Updated: 26 minutes agoBrenda Rus in an undated photograph provided by her family. Court heard she had started standing up for herself and establishing boundaries with Robert Rus before he murdered her. (Supplied by Brenda Rus’s siblings)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.An Ottawa police vehicle is seen outside the home of Robert and Brenda Rus in the Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven on April 6, 2025, the day after she was found dead and her husband confessed to killing her. (Charlotte Tremblay/Radio-Canada)’Doesn’t make me a murderer’Brenda left behind two sons, as well as several siblings and a large extended family.Joey Ghattas, her eldest son from another partnership, entered the courtroom ahead of Tuesday’s proceeding with a group of supporters, his eyes already red from crying. Many of Brenda’s other relatives and friends watched online via a video link.Ghattas wrote a victim impact statement and asked a friend to read it for him in court. He wrote that his mother’s death “has changed every part of who I am” and “follows me everywhere,” hitting him with waves of emotion he can’t control. My mother’s life mattered. She was loved. She was a person who found beauty in simple things, who laughed easily, and who gave love in quiet, genuine ways.- Joey Ghattas, Brenda Rus’s eldest sonHe also wrote that his stepfather has called him from jail, and that Robert’s “lack of compassion, his ongoing lack of remorse, that is what continues to trouble me.”One thing he said that still echoes in my mind non-stop is, ‘Just because I killed your mother doesn’t make me a murderer.’ Those words have been burned into my memory,” Ghattas continued. “They remind me of how senseless and cruel this act was, and how my mother deserved so much better.”My mother’s life mattered. She was loved. She was a person who found beauty in simple things, who laughed easily, and who gave love in quiet, genuine ways. She should still be here today. Now, all that I have left of my mom is a bag of ashes.”‘Attempting to establish boundaries’Her siblings wrote a joint statement that was read out loud by her sister Jean Gilbert, who attended virtually.Brenda, the second eldest of them, was a protective and supportive sibling, and “possessed a remarkable combination of humour, kindness and empathy, consistently demonstrating a willingness to assist those in need,” Gilbert said.She had told her siblings “about her emotional struggles, feeling underappreciated and overburdened as a wife while coping with debilitating back issues. Brenda was attempting to establish boundaries and assert her values within her relationship.”But “repeated deception and emotional manipulation” made it difficult to achieve. “Ultimately, her efforts to set boundaries and uphold her values resulted in the loss of her life.”Penny Salamon, a close friend of Brenda Rus for 38 years, said outside court Tuesday that separations are a dangerous time for people experiencing intimate partner violence, and that they shouldn’t confront their abusers alone. (Kristy Nease/CBC)As the proceeding drew to a close, Robert was asked by the judge if he had anything to say. He stood up and said he didn’t.Outside court, longtime friend Penny Salamon said Brenda kept her at somewhat of a distance when it came to her marriage, and never disclosed any abuse.She noted a fact that intimate partner violence experts know well — that the period of separation is a dangerous time for abuse victims. Salamon wishes Brenda had confronted her husband with a relative present, or that she had notified police.”There’s too many femicides and it’s because, unfortunately, as much as you want to blurt out how much … you want to leave them now, it’s very dangerous when you know they’re violent. Get the police involved in helping you walk away. Have a plan in place. Just don’t do it alone,” Salamon said.”She did not deserve to die. He could have walked away and let her live.”The criminal case is now over. Because Robert has pleaded guilty, there can be no appeal.ABOUT THE AUTHORCBC Ottawa senior writer Kristy Nease has covered news in the capital for 16 years, and previously worked at the Ottawa Citizen. She has handled topics including intimate partner violence, climate and health care, and is currently focused on the courts and judicial affairs for all platforms. Get in touch: kristy.nease@cbc.ca, or 613-288-6435. Worried? Try kristyneasecbc@proton.me instead.Selected stories.Follow her on X.
Man pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder in strangling of his wife
