Mark Rumboldt was found not guilty of attempted murder Saturday afternoon, but was found guilty of administering a noxious substance.
He was taken into custody and will return for sentencing on Tuesday.
The maximum sentence is 14 years, but crown attorney Scott Hurley said he would not be seeking the maximum sentence.
More details to come.
Earlier story:
The jury in the Mark Rumboldt attempted murder trial has returned to the courtroom with a question.
The jurors indicated to Justice David Hurley that they wanted to listen to a piece of audio evidence again — specifically, the 911 call placed by Rumboldt's then-wife on Jan. 22, 2016.
The woman is heard on the recording asking for ambulance, saying her husband had taken Ativan and was drinking.
"How many Ativan, Mark?," she is heard saying. His reply is intelligible.
The jury is expected to return to their deliberations shortly. They began their private discussions on a verdict Friday afternoon, after nearly two weeks of testimony in the case.
Rumboldt, 58, is accused of attempting to murder his wife by giving her prescription medication. He's alleged to have put Ativan and sleeping pills in her wine.
The complainant told the court she and Rumboldt had been having trouble in their 25-year marriage and had been seeing a counsellor for about three months as of Jan. 22, 2016. That night, the couple had decided to have a quiet night at home with homemade pizza and some drinks, she said. The woman told the court Rumboldt had poured her two glasses of wine and ran her a bath. While she was in the tub, she said, he came into the bathroom and collapsed on the floor.
The woman said she remembered jumping up and telling him that she was going to call 911, but had no other memory until two days later, when police told her of the allegation against her husband.
Paramedics and police officers arrived after the woman's 911 call, and found the couple intoxicated, but saw no sign of anything that would explain their extreme level of impairment. They were both taken to hospital.
Rumboldt had been discharged before his wife and took a seat by her bedside. At one point a nurse went to check on the woman and found Rumboldt holding a facecloth to her mouth. When the cloth was moved, the nurse noted a white residue and what appeared to be pieces of pills in the woman's mouth. She called for the doctor and two other nurses, and a sweep of the woman's mouth revealed a fluid later found to contain Ativan, a sleeping pill and codeine. A pill bottle belonging to Rumboldt was found on her bed, and a bag containing more medications prescribed to him was found underneath her blanket.
The woman was also found to have high levels of Ativan and the sleeping pill in her blood, but no trace of codeine.
Medical staff called the RNC, and officers arrived to take statements before taking Rumboldt home. Three hours later they returned to the home and asked him to leave so they could secure it while waiting to get a warrant to search the inside.
Investigators weren't granted the warrant, however, with a provincial court judge ruling the scene contaminated because Rumboldt had been there alone for three hours. As a result, the glasses of wine were not forensically tested.
