The respondent indecently assaulted a seven-year-old boy and, two minutes later, murdered him to prevent the child from telling his mother.
The jury convicted the respondent of first degree murder under s. 214(5)(b) of the Criminal Code.
The Court of Appeal substituted a conviction for second degree murder, finding the murder did not occur 'while committing' the assault.
The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the Crown's appeal and restored the first degree murder conviction, holding that 'while committing' does not require exact simultaneity, but rather that the underlying offence and the murder form part of one continuous sequence of events forming a single transaction.
