Crown withdraws murder charge against estranged wife of Killarney man

The Crown has withdrawn a first-degree murder charge against the estranged wife of a Killarney, Ont.,man who was killed in October 2020.

In a preliminary hearing Tuesday the Crown dropped its murder charge against Melissa Sheridan.

In an email to Radio-Canada, Sheridan's lawyer, Michael Lacy, said the Crown dropped the charge because "there was no longer a reasonable prospect of conviction."

In May 2022, Kerry Burke pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his brother Brant Burke, 56.

Burke's body was found on a trail in Point Grondine Reserve within Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory.

"Kerry Burke falsely implicated Melissa in the murder to try to shift blame and responsibility for his own horrendous and cowardly act of killing his brother by shooting him twice in the back while they were hunting," Lacy said in his email.

"His claims of being asked or hired to do this by my client were patently incredible. He provided false statements to the police about his own involvement in the murder and lied to his family and friends."

Lacy said Sheridan was maligned in the media and presumed guilty by the public.

"Hopefully, the truth, as reflected in the withdrawal of the charge will now be told," he wrote.