Sask. man pleads guilty to attempted murder in vicious domestic assault

Warning: this story contains graphic details of a domestic assault.

A man who viciously beat his ex-girlfriend, then successfully appealed his conviction, has now pleaded guilty.

Cory James Smockum, 44, entered the plea Tuesday in Saskatoon Court of King's Bench.

It brings a long legal saga one step closer to concluding, although Smockum still needs to be sentenced.

He pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder for the sustained, violent assault on his on-again, off-again partner on Oct. 13, 2018, in a garage in Hanley, about 65 kilometres south of Saskatoon.

He was first convicted by a jury after a trial in 2020, then declared a dangerous offender in 2022 and sentenced to an indeterminate prison term. He appealed and his conviction was overturned in 2024, based on errors made by the Crown at trial.

On Tuesday, lawyers filed an agreed statement of facts that lays out what Smockum now admits happened.

The assault

Smockum and his ex-girlfriend — who CBC isn't naming because her name was under publication bans on prior court decisions — took part in a quad rally on Oct. 13, 2018. After the rally, they went to a bar, where at some point Smockum became upset with his ex about other men who were there that he thought she had flirted with before.

The two went back to an acquaintance's garage, where they had been drinking earlier, arguing the whole way. When they got there, Smockum threw his ex into the garage and began hitting her, then choking her.

He choked her to the point she lost consciousness at least twice. Smockum told her she was going to die that night, and she begged for her life.

The woman's mother phoned Smockum and he told the mother "to say goodbye to her, that he was killing the Complainant tonight and this will be the last time that she got to say anything to the Complainant," the agreed statement of facts says.

The ex's stepfather also called Smockum, who told him he intended to kill her.

Smockum then called his brother and said he was going to kill his ex as well as himself. She tried to run away at that point, but Smockum caught her and choked her to unconsciousness again.

When Smockum woke her up, he told her she wasn't going to die in the garage, but they were going to drive to the river where he would kill them both. They got onto a quad, but it flipped while they were driving and Smockum was pinned under it. The woman ran away, was found by police and taken to hospital.

Police went to the scene of the quad accident but Smockum wasn't there. They tracked him with a police service dog, found him and arrested him two and a half hours later.

The woman's injuries included "broken ribs, a brain bleed, damage to her knees, a split lip which required surgery to close, a split jaw, a big cut on the side of her head, two black eyes, bruising to her neck and throat and damage to her ears," the agreed facts said.

Smockum also had broken ribs. His blood-alcohol level was estimated to be about two times the legal driving limit at the time of the beatings.

"Although the Accused was intoxicated by alcohol, it was not to the level where he was deprived of an intention to end the Complainant's life," the agreed facts said.

"It is agreed and admitted that the Accused, Cory James Smockum, did possess the specific intent to end the life of the Complainant … and was only prevented from doing so by the accident."

History of violence

The first documented case of Smockum committing violence dates back to when he was in Grade 3 and beat up another child, "breaking that child's rib and puncturing his lung," according to the 2022 sentencing decision in which he was initially declared a dangerous offender.

His convictions for violence began at the age of 15, when he assaulted a child he was babysitting. He assaulted a schoolmate when he was 16, and racked up more assault convictions in his 20s and 30s.

The same decision also recounts how Smockum "was subjected to severe and persistent physical abuse by his father" when he was a child.

"His father effectively trained him that he must fight, and that when he fought he must win," Justice Grant Currie wrote.

Two experts who testified at the dangerous offender hearing differed in their optimism about how effective programming would be to reduce Smockum's violence, Currie wrote. He ultimately decided the likelihood of future danger was high enough to declare Smockum a dangerous offender and sentence him to prison for an indeterminate period.

That sentence became moot after Smockum successfully appealed his conviction, however.

On Tuesday, defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle and the new Crown prosecutor on the case, Elizabeth Addabor, indicated in court that they intend to make a joint submission for a sentence of two years in prison, plus agree to a dangerous offender designation that would come with a 10-year supervision order.

A sentencing date has not yet been set.