HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia man who used a claw hammer and bat to kill his common-law wife and her daughter in 2013 was sentenced today to life in prison without chance of parole for 18 years.
Gerald Rushton pleaded guilty in September to two counts of second-degree murder after admitting in an agreed statement of facts that on Dec. 27, 2013, he got into a heated argument with his wife's daughter, 24-year-old Brittany MacPherson.
The statement says the young woman became agitated and verbally abusive before Rushton hit her repeatedly with a baseball bat.
Hours later, he beat 53-year-old Elizabeth MacPherson — Rushton's partner for 15 years — with a hammer before cutting her throat with a knife.
The 50-year-old then attempted suicide by cutting his own throat and left wrist.
