Disturbing details of Cassandra Kaake's murder revealed in Windsor, Ont. court - Action News
Home WebMail Saturday, November 23, 2024, 07:04 PM | Calgary | -11.6°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Windsor

Disturbing details of Cassandra Kaake's murder revealed in Windsor, Ont. court

Matthew Brush pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Cassandra Kaake Nov. 14, 2016. Brush also pleaded guilty to arson charges.

WARNING: Some readers may find details of this story disturbing

Cassandra Kaake was found dead at the scene of a house fire on Benjamin Avenue on Dec. 11, 2014 (Nancy Kaake/Facebook)

Gruesome details of the murder of Cassandra Kaake the pregnant Windsor, Ont. woman whose death reopened the debate on the rights of an unborn child were revealed during her killer's sentencing hearing Monday.

Matthew Brush, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and arson back in November, broke into Kaake's home on Benjamin Avenue in the city's east end just two weeks before Christmas in 2014.

Information revealed in court Monday show Brush intended to stealKaake'sunderwear and masturbate. He admitted to having a lengthy fetish with women's underwear.

Kaakewas out planning a baby shower and interrupted Brush when she returned home. A struggle ensued whenBrush strangledKaake until she wasunconscious, according to evidence agreed to in court.

Gruesome details of killing revealed

Brushthen slit her throat and left the home, only to return a short while later. That's when he cut off Kaake's fingertips in order to eliminate any DNA evidence.

Brush then doused Kaake in gasoline and set the houseon fire. Brush told police he drove around Windsor dumping evidence in various locations, including the Detroit River.

During their investigation, police found Brush's DNA on a fingertip left behind at the home.

After admitting to police he killed Kaake, Brush showedpolice where he dropped evidence. No items were recovered from that day.

Kaakewas seven months pregnant when she was killed. A postmortem examination found she died of blood loss caused by severe trauma.

Brush's sentencing is expected to take several days.

Unborn child rights reopened

Jeff Durham, who was the father-to-be of Kaake's unborn child, launched a lengthy public campaign to include additional punishments for anyone who harms an unborn baby during attacks on pregnant mothers.

He and Kaake were separated when she was killed, but Durham says they were still good friends. They planned to name their baby Molly.

His campaign, which was quickly dubbed Molly Matters,garneredmore than 6,000 signatures of anonline petition, calling for the Canadianlaws to be changed.

Saskatchewan Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall introduced aprivate member's bill, known as Cassie and Molly's Law, in February 2016, but that bill was voted down in October.