Russell Williams, former commander of CFB Trenton, pleaded guilty in 2010 to two charges of first-degree murder.
An attempt by the wife of serial killer Russell Williams to keep the details of their upcoming divorce proceeding secret has been thwarted by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
The court said on Tuesday that his wife failed to produce the sort of cogent, first-hand evidence that would be required to persuade a court to suppress press freedoms.
The judges expressed sympathy for the avalanche of publicity she has struggled with since her husband was unmasked as a wanton criminal. However, it said that her divorce proceedings are unlikely to provoke nearly as much public interest as Mr. Williams' arrest and trial did.
"She has endured and, I would say, overcome the worst of the media storm surrounding Williams," Mr. Justice David Doherty said, writing on behalf of Mr. Justice Robert Armstrong and Madam Justice Alexandra Hoy.
The court said that Mr. Williams' wife did not back up her contention that the press has been irresponsible and would stop at nothing to meddle in her life if her divorce proceedings were open to the public.
It noted that she missed two months of work after her husband's arrest and was even forced to leave the country to shield herself from her husband's high-profile trial, yet she has shown a strong ability since then to recuperate and rise above her unwanted notoriety.
"After the intense initial shock, she has picked up the pieces of her life and gone about the business of living that life," Judge Doherty said.
Mr. Williams, once commander of a major military base in Trenton, Ont., pleaded guilty in 2010 to two first-degree murders, two sexual assaults, two forcible confinements and 86 break, enter and thefts.
His crimes were clustered in two areas – Ottawa, where he and his wife owned a house; and the southeastern Ontario town of Tweed. The case piqued international interest, partly because of Mr. Williams' obsessive chronicling of his crimes through videotape, photographs, journal entries and a massive collection of undergarments stolen from his victims.
The Court of Appeal ruling overturned an earlier decision that granted her a publication ban and sealing order on the bulk of the evidence in the divorce proceeding. The banned material included photographs or likenesses of her, information that might identify her, her address or her employer.
The publication ban was fought by a coalition of intervenors: The Ottawa Citizen, CTV, CBC, Global Television and the Ottawa Sun.
Judge Doherty noted that she relied almost exclusively on evidence from her psychiatrist, Dr. W. Quan. He stated that Mr. Williams' wife's mental equilibrium had been seriously compromised by events over the past four years; and that she had lost significant weight, suffered from back pain, sleeplessness, depression, anxiety, headaches, and pain from constantly clenching her teeth.
Judge Doherty suspended the effect of his decision for 14 days on most of the banned material to enable her to launch an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada or prepare for the sealed information becoming public.