Killer of Meg Kruger is sentenced in Hay River

James Colosimo, who murdered 18-year-old Meg Kruger in Hay River nearly four years ago, will serve at least 13 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.

That sentence, ordered by Chief Justice Shannon Smallwood in Hay River’s courtroom on Friday, was jointly proposed by the Crown and defence.

Colosimo is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder after pleading guilty last year.

Under Canada’s criminal code, the automatic sentence for murder is life imprisonment. Colosimo will be under Corrections Canada’s supervision for his lifetime.

Friday’s sentence means he can be considered for parole – release from prison with conditions attached, and with supervision still in place – 13 years after his initial arrest, which would be the fall of 2033. There is no guarantee parole will be granted at that time.

Colosimo has been at Yellowknife’s North Slave Correctional Complex since his arrest on September 10, 2020. With sentencing complete, he will be transferred to a federal prison.

What happened?

Warning: Beyond this point, this report contains details related to the murder. While we have limited the detail reprinted here, be aware that some of the information is distressing.

On Thursday, the court in Hay River heard graphic details of the last night of Meg Kruger’s life as prosecutors read from a statement of facts agreed with the defence.

Meg had been dating Colosimo for a little under a year. By September 2020, their relationship “was eroding,” prosecutors said.

Colosimo had attempted suicide a month earlier, spending time at Hay River’s health centre then Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife. He had been released from the hospital’s mental health unit on September 2.

On the morning of September 9, Colosimo’s supervisor at Rowe’s Construction recalled he seemed fine according to the statement of facts.

The 31-year-old visited Meg multiple times that day at the Homesteaders Inn, where she worked. Security cameras caught what the statement of facts called interactions that “appeared to be congenial.” At one point, the statement added, the two are seen to kiss.

They shared more than a hundred text messages as the day progressed. In the days leading up to September 9, they had argued over other people they were each said to be seeing as the relationship deteriorated. On September 9, Meg repeatedly sent messages saying she wanted to end the relationship.

Prosecutors said the text-message record showed Meg ultimately agreeing to one last meeting that night, after which the two would be friends. She had said via text that the relationship was now “too toxic,” adding: “I just want to end things here, because I’m tired of it.”

Colosimo, meanwhile, spoke with his father early that evening while using an exercise bike. His father recalled that he seemed to be “doing well and not using drugs,” on the basis of that call.

At around 10pm, Colosimo biked to the house where Meg was housesitting and dogsitting for a family friend. According to his statements in later calls and messages, at some point in the intervening period he took various drugs and drank alcohol.

By 10:37pm, he was calling people to say: “I killed her.”

Police officers spent six hours at the home, where Colosimo clung to a knife, before they were able to safely arrest him and get to Meg, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Meg suffered 66 stab wounds according to the agreed statement of facts, some of them extremely forceful. The owner of the property said the horror of what she saw – and the knowledge of what had happened in her home – caused pain that was “so horrendous, I didn’t think I could go on living.”

Colosimo had no criminal record prior to September 9, 2020.

Members of the Colosimo family have expressed the view that evidence they felt could have illuminated the role of drug use and mental health concerns in the case, such as a blood test, was not acquired in the hours after the events of that night.

Colosimo’s father has said he has no recollection of doing what he did.

His father said he received a call late on September 9 in which Colosimo said “the voices made me do it.” An RCMP officer recalled Colosimo “appeared paranoid and kept looking at the master bedroom door, saying that he expected Jackie Chan to come through.” Officers also recalled Colosimo saying at one point, “Conveniently, he is gone now, and he told me to do it,” an unexplained reference to a third party. (There is no evidence that anyone else was at the scene during the murder.)

In court on Thursday, prosecutors said Colosimo had undergone an examination regarding mental health in the aftermath of the killing and he “understands the results of that examination, and mental health professionals are not able to assist in his defence.”

Family members speak

Members of the Kruger family and friends of the family were in court to deliver victim impact statements to Chief Justice Smallwood.

At one point, standing barely five feet from Colosimo, Meg’s sister Jacky Kruger told him: “Although you tragically ended Meg’s life … you do not have the power to affect her soul in any way.”

“You are not only a murderer but also a thief,” she continued, at times looking directly to her left at Colosimo as she spoke. “As the oldest sisters, Natasha and I had been looking forward to forging a closer bond with Meg in adulthood. You cruelly robbed us of that opportunity.”

Jacky Kruger then read from a statement submitted by Meg’s 12-year-old niece.

That statement read in part: “I hate you so much. I’m crying because of you. Every time I walk in front of a place that reminds me of her, it makes me cry. You killed my aunt. I don’t know how to forgive you but I will find a way, because I’m a better person than you.”

A 14-year-old friend of Meg told Colosimo: “You took a part of me that day, a part that will never come back. My life will never be the same. My outlook on relationships will never be the same. I can never trust a man without fear of violence because of your actions.”

The last victim impact statement came from Marny Twigge, Meg’s mother, who began: “I’ve basically been stuck in 2020. I’ve been frozen in time in some respects.”

Among the statements delivered, hers struck a unique note in devoting significant time to how she wants Colosimo to live his life.

“The best way I can move on … is having the expectation that James will make something of his life,” she said.

“I hope he is going to use this time to sort himself out, to better himself. I hope James can get to the bottom of his troubles and issues.

“He is young yet. He still has a life to live. Meg no longer has that privilege. I want to know that he will use Meg’s memory as a catalyst for change.”

Correction: May 4, 2024 – 8:34 MT. This report initially stated Colosimo was 32 at the time of the murder. He wasn’t, he was 31. May 6, 2024 – 19:38 MT. A youth who delivered a victim impact statement was initially identified in this report as a cousin of Meg. A member of the Kruger family says this was not the case, and the reference has been amended.