TORONTO — Ontario's highest court has ordered a new trial for a star lacrosse player who was convicted of second degree murder in the death of his ex-girlfriend.
Tashina General went missing in late January 2008. Her disappearance sparked an investigation on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, with aerial searches and sweeps with dogs.
Her remains were found in a shallow grave on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ont., in April 2008.
Kent Hill, a resident of the reserve and a star of the Six Nations Arrows Express lacrosse team, was arrested in a North Bay, Ont., motel and taken back to Six Nations to face a second-degree murder charge.
Police said General, who was about four months pregnant at the time, died by strangulation.
Hill, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2011, appealed his conviction and his sentence.
He argued that the trial judge erred in his instructions to the jury on intent and the defence of provocation. He also argued that the Crown improperly cross-examined him on his earlier statement to police.
The Ontario Court of Appeal found no merit in his cross-examination complaint, but was satisfied that there was merit to his two other grounds of appeal.
A new trial for Kent on the charge of second degree murder has been ordered as a result.
