Valentine’s Day Nightmare: The Murder of Betty Hart

On the evening of February 14, 1985, Valentine’s Day, at around 6:00 p.m., Bryan Hart of Colborne, Ontario, came home to a quiet house after work. He looked around the house for his wife, Betty, but could not find her. The couple’s 19-year-old son had already been home for an hour and a half. Michael said he hadn’t seen his mom but had noticed a pair of glasses she wore sitting on the landing leading into the basement. Thinking his mother was out somewhere, Michael picked up the glasses and put them on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen for safekeeping.

On learning about the glasses from Michael, Bryan felt compelled to check the basement. It was the only place he hadn’t checked yet. In the cellar, Bryan discovered Betty lying on her side in a vast pool of blood. She was unresponsive. Bryan raced back upstairs and told his son to call an ambulance.

Marguerite Elizabeth (Betty) Hart, 46, was dead. Among Betty’s many injuries, her throat had been slashed. Early on, the OPP presumed Betty’s wounds to be self-inflicted, but not all was as it appeared.

Sources:

1987 CanLII 124 (ON CA) | R. v. Moran | CanLII

SCC Docket | Donald Philip John Moran v. Her Majesty the Queen

Mar 09, 1985, page 3 – The Toronto Star at Newspapers.com

Mar 12, 1985, page 2 – The Toronto Star at Newspapers.com

Mar 13, 1985, page 2 – The Kingston Whig-Standard at Newspapers.com

Mar 14, 1985, page 2 – The Toronto Star at Newspapers.com

Apr 30, 1985, page 7 – The Toronto Star at Newspapers.com

Jul 23, 1985, page 5 – The Toronto Star at Newspapers.com

Jun 06, 1985, page 2 – The Kingston Whig-Standard at Newspapers.com

Jun 28, 1985, page 6 – The Kingston Whig-Standard at Newspapers.com

Jan 08, 1986, page 7 – The Hamilton Spectator at Newspapers.com