A young man accused of fatally stabbing a woman to death in downtown St. John’s changed his plea as his trial was about to begin this morning.
Twenty-two-year-old David Quirke had pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 42-year-old Rayna Dove.
She was pronounced dead in a Cookstown Road boarding house, where both were living, early on the morning of December 27, 2021.
(RNC holding scene at rear of 30 Cookstown Road in 2021)
The case had been slowly making its way to trial, with jury selection and first testimony scheduled for today.
But all that changed when Quirke’s lawyers announced, in concert with the Crown, that he would instead plead guilty to the less serious offence of manslaughter—the main difference being intent, or lack of it, to kill.
No conviction has been entered yet, however.
That’s expected to happen when the facts of the crime are spelled out during the sentencing phase in late May.
Until then, Quirke remains free on strict court conditions.
