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Toronto man, 81, gets life sentence for driving down late common-law wife’s family – Toronto
The 81-year-old Toronto man who drove down three family members after he was excluded from his late partner’s will has been given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 18 years.
Ciro Garofano’s actions killed one of the three people he struck, and he will serve his sentence with concurrent 10-year sentences for the aggravated assaults of the two victims who survived.
Garofano showed no emotion on Tuesday as Superior Court Justice Jane Kelly delivered her sentence for the second-degree murder of 61-year-old Karen Montague, the niece of Garofano’s late common-law wife, Elsie Gilchrist.
Montague’s husband, Wayne, and Gilchrist’s sister Joyce Collins, 88, were also attacked.
It was Nov. 15, 2023, when the Montagues, Collins, and Collins’ daughter Eileen Mignardi went to the apartment at 250 Cassandra Blvd, where Garofano had lived with Gilchrist for over 40 years. The couple was unmarried and had no children together. Gilchrist was his senior.
According to an agreed statement of facts read out when Garofano pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in May, Gilchrist had moved out of the building four years earlier and into a nursing home. She died in July 2023.
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Prior to her death, Gilchrist gave power of attorney over her finances to her niece, Karen Montague. Sometime before Nov. 15, 2023, Garofano and Karen Montague spoke about clearing Gilchrist’s belongings from the apartment.
Gilchrist’s four relatives arrived in a car being driven by Wayne Montague and parked in the visitors’ parking lot. Garofano told them he would wait in his car while they cleared out the apartment.
Garofano moved his car from the underground parking lot to the circular parking lot of the building above ground next to the visitors’ lot. After clearing out a few of Gilchrist’s boxes and household items, Karen Montague and Collins went to speak to Garofano, who was in his vehicle.
Three residents from the building heard yelling outside that sounded like a heated argument. As Karen Montague and Collins walked back towards Wayne Montague’s vehicle, Garofano drove his vehicle at them, striking them both. Garofano then mounted the curb and struck Wayne Montague.
Garofano reversed and proceeded to drive twice around the roundabout, running his vehicle over Karen Montague two further times.
At a sentencing hearing last month, Assistant Crown attorney Megan Petrie argued there were elements of planning, but Kelly said she was unable to conclude that the attack was planned and deliberate.
The Crown had asked for 22 to 23 years before being eligible for parole for the life sentence, while defence argued 16 years would be more appropriate.
“The crime itself was horrific. It was senseless and brutal,” Kelly told court, pointing out that all the victims were unarmed and vulnerable.
“Regardless of motivation (animus or an argument), Mr. Garofano drove over the victims in broad daylight in front of others,” Kelly added.
Kelly also quoted from Crown counsel, who told court “the fabric of the family was ripped apart,” saying Garofano caused the family “catastrophic trauma.”
Kelly said in arriving at the 18-year period of parole ineligibility, she considered Garofano’s guilty plea, dated criminal regard, age and the harsh conditions of his pre-sentence custody at the Toronto South Detention Centre.
At the sentencing hearing last month, Garofano declined when asked if he had anything to say to the court.
Garofano left the courtroom in a wheelchair wearing an orange prison jumpsuit to begin serving his sentence. He will be eligible to apply for parole when he’s 97 years old.
He has been in custody since his arrest, when he was 79 years old.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
TORONTO – Tyler Heineman hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning and starter Eric Lauer gave up two runs over six to lead the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday.
Lauer earned his fifth win of the season with seven strikeouts and no walks.
Heineman drove in a run with a double in the sixth inning off Giants starter Logan Webb, while Blue Jays second baseman Ernie Clement contributed an RBI single.
Toronto’s Addison Barger produced the first four-hit game of his career. The 26-year-old went 4-for-4 with a double and three singles.
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Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman came on in the ninth for his second save of Toronto’s three-game series versus the Giants thus far, giving him 23 on the season.
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For the Giants, Willy Adames clouted two solo home runs to get to 14 on the season.
It was Adames’ second multi-home run game of the campaign and the ninth of his big-league career. Heliot Ramos would score the Giants’ other run by driving home Luis Matos with a sacrifice fly.
The game took two hours 10 minutes to play in front of an announced sellout of 42,015.
WAGNER STAYS HOT
After driving in two runs with a hard-hit double in Toronto’s victory the previous evening, Wagner hit another RBI double Saturday to give the Blue Jays their first lead of the game. Since his June 28 recall from Triple-A Buffalo, the utility man is 11-for-33 with five doubles and three RBI in 11 games.
HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE
The Blue Jays remain dominant in their own ballpark. With Saturday’s victory, Toronto improved to 21-4 at Rogers Centre over their last 25 home games. They have averaged over five runs per game during that stretch and boast a team on-base percentage of over .800.
UP NEXT
Toronto’s Jose Berrios (5-4, 3.75 ERA) is scheduled to face San Francisco’s Robbie Ray (9-3, 2.65) in Sunday’s series finale. First pitch is scheduled for 12:07 p.m. ET.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays may have star power, but they’ve had contributions from unsung heroes this season.
That happened Saturday afternoon when Toronto’s 7-8-9 hitters accounted for all six runs and went a collective 5-for-10 in the team’s 6-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Rogers Centre.
Second baseman Ernie Clement finished with an RBI. Third baseman Will Wagner hit a two-run double. And catcher Tyler Heineman had one of the best games of his career, hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning to finish 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider credits his club’s hitting coaches for this lower-lineup success.
“It starts with Pop, and Lou and Hunter,” said Schneider of Toronto’s hitting staff.
“And really diving into what these guys are good at and how they are going to get pitched and having a plan. And then it’s the guys buying into that plan and sticking with it. It’s not easy to do when you don’t play every day and you’re hitting 7-8-9.
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“The tendency is to chase results and the guys aren’t doing that.”
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The Blue Jays got contributions from more than their batting depth Saturday.
Starter Eric Lauer picked up his fifth win of the season while allowing two runs and no walks in six innings of work. Lauer also struck out seven batters.
Signed to a minor-league deal Dec. 13, 2024, after he was cut by the KBO’s Kia Tigers, Lauer has been a strong addition to the Blue Jays’ rotation in 2025.
The left-hander has a 2.80 earned-run average and a 1.04 walks plus hits per inning pitched in eight starts for the Blue Jays this season.
“One, probably,” said Clement of where Lauer would rank among Toronto’s unsung heroes.
“What he’s been able to do and come in and just give us a chance to win every game. It’s invaluable. So, tip of the cap to him. He’s probably been our unsung MVP so far.”
Schneider says Lauer’s demeanour hasn’t changed as his quality starts increased.
“That’s one of the things I love about him,” Scheider said of Lauer post-game.
“He’s kind of a flat-liner…Not getting too high or too low, and kind of doing what everyone’s doing, where you go out and do what we ask of you and you move on to the next time you go out there.”
Accustomed to a long relief role as well as a starter this season, Lauer believes the latter is where has earned the right to be.
“I’m just trying to make sure that I stick in the rotation, honestly” Lauer said. “That’s what I want to do, and that’s where I think I can help the team best.”
With Bowden Francis still on the injured list with a shoulder impingement, the Blue Jays need Lauer in the rotation moving forward.
Toronto will attempt to sweep the three-game homestand against the Giants on Sunday before hosting the New York Yankees in a three-game set starting Monday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
There will be a couple of familiar faces in the grid’s front row when the green flag drops at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto on Sunday.
Defending champion Colton Herta earned pole position in the only IndyCar Series race outside of the United States. Alex Palou, who has a comfortable lead atop the open-wheel circuit’s points list, will be right beside Herta at the starting line at Exhibition Place.
Herta held pole position in three of the past four races in Toronto, but only won in 2024.
“I think it’s just what this team is capable of around here for the street courses,” said Herta on Andretti Global’s reputation for strong showings on street courses like Toronto. “We continue to be a dominant force in the league for that style of racing.
“It was a stressful one, though. Really close to being knocked out in the first round.”
Colton Herta (26) of the United States crosses the finish line to win the 2024 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy, in Toronto on Sunday, July 21, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey.
Herta clocked the 11-turn, 2.874-kilometre course around Toronto’s fairgrounds — also home to the CFL’s Argonauts, Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, the American Hockey League’s Marlies, the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Sceptres, and starting in 2026, the WNBA’s Tempo — in 59.8320 seconds.
It was Herta’s first pole of the season and he’s winless so far, although he does have three top-five finishes.
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“We want to do well. We’re striving to do better every weekend,” said Herta as his news conference wound down and Palou walked in to the media centre to do his. “It’s a tough sport, so any little thing that we drop the ball on, it creates a big impact.
“Just need to be heads-up on Sunday and not give this (expletive) a win.”
Palou chuckled before getting to the microphone.
He has dominated IndyCar this season with seven wins, four poles, 10 top fives and 11 top 10s, leading for a total of 442 laps. He has 515 points to put him well ahead of No. 2 Pato O’Ward’s 386.
Despite the quality of his season, Palou said that starting second would be a tough assignment Sunday.
“It’s never easy to start second,” said Palou, whose best qualifying lap was 0.2758 seconds behind Herta’s. “If the person in third is awake, they’re usually able to pass the person on the outside.
“We’ll see what we can do. It’s not easy to be around the outside in Turn 1. Honestly, it’s still great. As long as we’re in the top four or five by Lap 1, it’s where we want to be. We can race from there.”
Marcus Armstrong and Will Power were third and fourth, respectively.
Third place finisher Scott Dixon (9) of New Zealand, left, trails second place finisher Kyle Kirkwood (27) of the United States and winner Colton Herta (26) of the United States during the 2024 Ontario Honda Dealers Indy, in Toronto on Sunday, July 21, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey.
Scott Dixon, a four-time champion in Toronto, was 11th in qualifying but IndyCar announced Friday that he’d earned a six-position starting grid penalty for an unapproved engine change following last week’s race at Iowa Speedway.
Dixon is second only to all-time great Michael Andretti’s seven wins around Exhibition Place.
Toronto’s Devlin DeFrancesco, the only Canadian on the grid, was 26th.
Several drivers complained after Friday’s practice about a large bump on Lake Shore Boulevard, just before the braking zone heading into Turn 3. Race officials repaved the area overnight with mixed reviews from Herta and Palou.
“It’s much better. Yeah, it was pretty brutal yesterday,” said Herta. “I didn’t really mind it because I think it adds character and whatnot. But it was on the limit. It was very aggressive.
“I thought IndyCar did a good job. I think there’s no problems at all with it.”
Palou was less positive.
“(The patch) didn’t really make any difference for us. I guess they tried hard,” he said. “The good thing is we brake past that, so it’s just uncomfortable when you drive through there.
“But it was not any smoother. You were still hitting very, very hard.”
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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