Halifax man pleads guilty to murdering his mother in a fit of rage

A Halifax man has admitted he killed his mother in a fit of rage last fall.

Jonathan William Pinsky, 41, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder during a brief appearance in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax on Monday afternoon.

Pinsky was charged after the body of Delina Pinsky, 71, was found in the storage area of the Halifax condominium they shared on Quinpool Road.

In an agreed statement of facts read into the record, Jonathan Pinsky said that he had come home on the evening of Oct. 1, 2024, to find his mother angry and yelling at him. He later told police he thought she was angry because she had to shout at him to turn on the closed captioning of a DVD she was watching.

She ordered him to move out of the condo by 10 o'clock that evening and refused to further discuss it with him.

According to the statement, Pinsky flew into a rage and attacked his mother, punching her and kicking her in the midsection. He told police he believed she was "already probably dying" at that point, but he smothered her with a pillow and stabbed her in the neck before leaving her in the storage room covered with a sheet.

On Oct. 9, his employer requested a wellness check because he had not been at work for more than a week. Police were let into the condo by the building manager, who reported an unpleasant smell. They saw what appeared to be a bloodstain on a wall and found Delina Pinsky when they opened the door to the storage room.

Jonathan Pinsky was arrested on the evening of Oct. 11 after he was spotted by a co-worker who called police. He told the arresting officer that the knife he'd used to stab his mother was at the bottom of his backpack. The next day, he gave a full confession to police.

"Homicide in Canada carries a mandatory life sentence so he will be receiving a sentence of life imprisonment," Crown prosecutor Stephen Anstey said outside court on Monday.

"The only issue is going to be the eligibility for parole. Second-degree murder carries a mandatory minimum parole eligibility of 10 years less any time served in custody. We are going to be jointly submitting the mandatory minimum as appropriate for Mr. Pinsky."

Justice Josh Arnold has requested that a pre-sentence report be filed by June 2 and has scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 2. Pinsky's brother and uncle plan to give victim impact statements at that time.