'Seriously troubled' woman gets 6-year manslaughter sentence for abetting, videoing attack on ex
Marshall Rath was beaten and stabbed to death in February 2022
A Calgary woman who encouraged and took videos of the fatal beating and stabbing of her recently ex-boyfriend has been handed a six-year sentence for her crime as the judge described the woman as "seriously troubled."
In November, Jordan Smith, 31, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of Marshall Rath, who was killed on Feb. 22, 2022, days after he and Smith had broken up.
Days before the killing, Smith began dating Dominic Hood after connecting with him on an online dating app. According to an agreed statement of facts (ASF), Hood was responsible for the fatal injuries suffered by Rath.
Hood faces a charge of second-degree murder and is set to go on trial next February.
'A horrific childhood'
In handing down his sentencing decision, Justice Richard Neufeld acknowledged that Smith's own mother introduced Smith to drugs and sent her child out, "knowing Jordan would make money by providing sex to men."
"Jordan is the product of a horrific childhood and bears its lasting scars," said Neufeld.
"That does not in any way justify or excuse Jordan's role in abetting or videotaping a horrific killing."
Details of the killing come from the ASF presented as part of Smith's plea last November.
On Feb. 21, Smith made a video of herself striking Rath in the face with a chain wrapped around her fist.
'It's you I want'
She sent that video to a woman who lived in Quebec, described in the ASF as a "cousin."
In the early morning hours of Feb. 22, Hood arrived at the apartment Smith and Rath shared.
The Quebec "cousin" then received a series of messages, photos and calls from Smith who admitted to "photographing the beating of Rath by Hood and thus, encouraging the assaults by Hood."
Nearing the end of the assaults, Smith could be heard telling Hood "it's you I want. I don't care about him… I love you baby."
Soon after, the cousin could hear Smith screaming "there is blood everywhere. I think he is dead."
'What you did...was cruel'
In handing down his decision, the judge addressed Smith directly.
"What you did to Marshall on that day was terrible and what you did to your cousin was cruel," Neufeld said.
The cousin called police in Quebec to report the suspected murder of "Marshall" somewhere in Calgary.
That evening, Calgary police were able to track down the identity and location of the man they believed to be the victim.
Officers entered the apartment to find Rath dead in a pool of blood in the bathroom.
He had suffered multiple blunt force trauma to his head and had been stabbed six times.
"Marshall Rath did not appear to fight back from the attack," according to the agreed facts.
'The harm you caused'
At a sentencing hearing earlier last month, prosecutors Hyatt Mograbee and Elise Doherty proposed a six-year sentence, followed by three years probation.
Defence lawyer Adriano Iovinelli asked Justice Neufeld to consider a five-year sentence with the same probationary period.
With credit for the time she's already served, Smith has just under a year left on her sentence.
The judge also imposed three years probation, which he told Smith "isn't intended to be a punishment."
"I hope in time you may come to understand the harm you caused, the reasons you caused that harm."
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