Warning: The following story contains details of domestic violence and murder that some readers may find disturbing.
In a Barrie courtroom on a snowy January afternoon, John Collins received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for 16 years.
Orillia resident Collins pleaded guilty back in December to second-degree murder in the death of Kinga ‘Kay’ Kriston, a real estate agent found dead in her Collingwood home on June 10, 2022. He was sentenced on Jan. 9 by Madam Justice Michelle Fuerst.
“Every murder is by definition a crime of great violence, but the assault on Miss Kriston was particularly vicious,” said Fuerst in her decision read out to the court. “She was attacked in her own bed, in her own home, a place that should have been one of safety and refuge from harm.”
A statement of facts agreed upon by Collins’ defence lawyers, David O'Connor and Brenda Lawson, and the Crown attorneys, Lynne Saunders and Jenna Dafoe, laid out what the prosecution referred to as “a brutal murder of the gravest and most degrading kind.”
Collins, who was 57 at the time, told police that on June 4, 2022, he argued with Kriston, 55, before passing out on the couch at her house where he was living. When he woke up, he retrieved a golf club from the garage. He went into Kriston’s bedroom and got into bed with her, touching her backside. When he heard her say a phrase similar to “you better think long and hard about what you said to me tonight,” he stood up and started beating her with the golf club, striking her four or five times.
Collins said Kriston pleaded with him to think about his son.
Collins dropped the golf club and punched Kriston in the face several times, they both rolled onto the floor. He later told police he noticed “she wasn’t dead yet.”
He strangled her with his hands until she died.
“This is the hand that I used,” Collins said during his time in police custody, the day of his arrest. He gestured to his right hand and observed it was swollen.
Kriston’s body, half-clothed, lay on her bedroom floor until June 10, five days after she was violently murdered. A friend was concerned because he had been trying unsuccessfully for days to reach Kriston, so he stopped by the house on Alyssa Drive to check on her.
Although Collins was inside the house, he wouldn’t open the door, but the friend had the key code and walked in.
The friend discovered Kriston’s body in her bedroom and called police from the house at 8:19 a.m.
The house was strewn with empty liquor bottles and in disarray. A pair of grey track pants and a T-shirt stained in blood were found in a bedroom. A golf club with blood on it had been left on top of a coat rack in a main-floor hallway.
While police were inside the house, Collins left, triggering a police search.
The court heard that Collins was found sitting in the grass in a nearby field, where he promised officers not to give them any trouble.
At the time of his arrest, police identified Collins as an Orillia resident. He once worked in finance and later as a real estate agent, but he did not have a job or a home of his own in June 2022.
Collins began confessing to the murder immediately after his arrest and before police asked him any questions.
He said he was “sorry” and that he “just snapped.”
“I killed her, I’m not going to lie to you guys,” Collins told one of the officers who took him into custody, court heard.
Police determined Collins was under the influence of alcohol and did not interview him right away. But while they were investigating him for evidence, Collins again said he was “totally guilty,” that he wanted to go to jail, that he was drunk and stupid, and that he lost his family, his kids, and he murdered somebody.
On the afternoon of June 10, 2022, a detective sergeant began interviewing Collins on the record. After being served his requested assorted sub and chocolate milk, Collins spoke to police in an interview that lasted more than two hours, repeatedly telling the detective that he killed Kriston, and providing details of his crime.
By the end of the interview, Collins asked for medical attention. He was admitted to the hospital, where he stayed under police guard for several days to manage his alcohol withdrawal. After leaving the hospital, he was taken to the medical unit of Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, then later to general population.
While members of Kriston’s family attended the sentencing hearing on Tuesday, they declined to provide comment on the sentence.
“Miss Kriston’s death and its circumstances profoundly impacted her closest family members and friends. Their lives will be forever changed by Mr. Collins’ selfish actions,” said Fuerst.
Collins’ defence lawyers pointed out Collins’ self-identified alcoholism, noting he was in a residential rehabilitation program with Teen Challenge before he moved in with Kriston. He left the one-year program after about one month.
The defence noted Collins’ family history of alcoholism and emphasized his remorse and guilty plea.
In her sentencing decision, Fuerst noted that Collins did not call anyone after killing Kriston, and tried to prevent Kriston’s friend from entering her residence when he came to check on her on June 10, 2022.
“All of this after-the-fact conduct deeply offended the common standards of decency,” said Fuerst.
Collins was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 16 years, he must provide a DNA sample, he will be under a weapons prohibition for life and he must have no communication with the Kriston family.
Collins’ sentence started June 10, 2022, the day of his arrest.
— With files from Erika Engel
