Woman found guilty on lesser charge of manslaughter

Linda Mitchell had been charged with second degree murder in the stabbing death of her common-law husband in Campbell River

A woman found guilty of manslaughter in the stabbing death of her common-law husband will be sentenced March 16.

Linda Mitchell, 53, had been charged with second degree murder after Christopher Warren, 55, died due to a stab wound in his back which punctured his lung.

On Friday, in B.C. Supreme Court in Campbell River, a jury of eight women and four men convicted Mitchell on the lesser count of manslaughter.

Warren was found dead April 2, 2010, in the apartment he shared with Mitchell at 645-9th Ave.

According to court testimony, the two had been drinking when an argument and altercation ensued. Mitchell claimed Warren was beating her about the head with a telephone handset when she used a kitchen knife to stab Warren once in the middle of his back.

He died shortly later, with his daughter by his side who had been called by her grandmother to go to the apartment to find out what was going on.

In fact, it was his daughter who made the emergency 911 call while Mitchell did nothing to help her dying spouse. She has never admitted killing him and later lied to police about the blood on her hands, telling an investigator it was hers when in fact it was Warren’s blood.

Mitchell is currently free on bail while a pre-sentence report is prepared for the court.

Campbell River Mirror