Man who ‘freaked out’ on girlfriend pleads guilty to second-degree murder

A Chatham man who killed his girlfriend when he “freaked out in a horrible way” about what he found on his cell phone pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder.

Stephen William Thompson, 43, pleaded not guilty to the original charge of first-degree murder in the death of Cynthia Sitzes, but guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder while appearing via Zoom in Superior Court in Chatham.

According to the agreed statement of facts read by assistant Crown attorney Heather McIntyre, the pair was at Thompson’s Bedford Street apartment in Chatham on July 1, 2022, when Thompson became upset over what he found on Sitzes’ cell phone and “her attitude towards him .”

Thompson began slapping Sitzes and then stabbed her repeatedly in the face and neck, continuing until she stopped moving, McIntyre said.

But it wasn’t until July 4 that Chatham-Kent police discovered the grisly scene in Thompson’s apartment.

Officers responded in the early morning that day to a report of a suspicious person near a black Dodge Journey at the McDonald’s restaurant on St. Clair Street in Chatham, McIntyre said.

Police determined the vehicle was registered at Sitzes. An officer trying to find her found Thompson at the corner of Fifth and Wellington streets in Chatham.

When the officer asked Thompson where Sitzes was, he replied, “She’s at my apartment. I killed her. We got into a fight,” McIntyre said.

Officers went to Thompson’s apartment and forced their way inside. Sitzes was lying face down on the living room floor with trauma to the head and blood around her, the Crown said.

Thompson was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

Following a post-mortem two days later, the cause of death was determined to be “multiple sharp-force injuries.”

Dental records were needed to identify Sitzes because of the extent of her injuries and decomposition of her body by the time she was found, McIntyre said.

Thompson continued to admit his role in Sitzes’s death to police, telling an officer who accompanied him to Chatham-Kent Health Alliance to receive his prescribed methadone that he killed her and was guilty of murder, the Crown said.

In a recorded interview at police headquarters, Thompson told an officer, “I did not plan to kill her,” McIntyre said.

He also told the officer Sitzes “would not tell the truth” and he eventually “freaked out in a horrible way,” she said.

Thompson also indicated the argument did not last long, but escalated, and admitted that in a couple of minutes he went “from loving her to killing her.”

Thompson told police he used a pocket knife that was on the coffee table in the living room, McIntyre said.

Thompson told authorities he was not under the influence of any substance when he fatally stabbed Sitzes, but was under the influence of Valium when he assaulted her a few weeks before killing her on the eve of his brother’s funeral.

The assault left Sitzes with injuries to her nose, a black eye, cuts and a fat lip. McIntyre told the court Sitzes’ family noticed her injuries but she said they were caused by a motor vehicle crash.

Superior Court Justice Brian Dube asked Thompson if he was able to hear the facts presented to the court and agreed with them.

After Thompson indicated he could hear them and agreed with them, Dube said he found Thompson guilty of second degree murder.

Thompson’s lawyer Ken Marley requested a pre-sentence report be prepared before a sentencing hearing is held in person.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 23 and Dube instructed Thompson to co-operate with the person preparing the pre-sentence report so that it is completed by then.