Posted on 11/20/2025 10:24:13 AM PST by jerod
Judge notes Serena Tobaccojuice’s lengthy periods in isolation, suggests prior sentences too stiff
A 43-year-old convicted murderer incarcerated since a teen has been handed an additional 12 months behind bars for confining two correctional guards, with a Nova Scotia judge remarking on the lengthy periods in segregation she has faced during her time in the prison system.
Judge Ian Hutchison gave his sentence Wednesday in the provincial court in Truro, N.S., in the case of Serena Tobaccojuice, following a hearing that has examined her history, her Indigenous background and her more than 25-year path through the federal correctional system.
In his decision, the judge said Tobaccojuice’s experiences in the prison system “make for a difficult read.” The Cree woman from Saskatchewan, who is also known as Serena Nicotine, is one of Canada’s longest-serving female inmates and spent years in isolation, including under a highly restrictive protocol ultimately abandoned by the Correctional Service of Canada.
“What Ms. Tobaccojuice endured in isolation is hard to comprehend, but is the reality of Ms. Tobaccojuice’s life experiences and sets the scene for the offences for which she is to be sentenced,” he said.
Tobaccojuice, who is serving a life sentence for a Saskatchewan murder she committed when she was 15 and has a record for multiple hostage-takings in prison, pleaded guilty last year to two counts of unlawful confinement.
On Oct. 26, 2022, she blocked the door of her unit at the Nova Institution for Women and prevented two guards from leaving. She held tweezers fashioned into a weapon and threatened both the officers and herself. The guards, who stood calmly throughout, were not injured.
An agreed statement of facts said Tobaccojuice was trying to seek medical help. The court has heard that she had been on units with other inmates who had died, including the high-profile case of Ashley Smith, and worried she would meet the same fate.
The prosecution and defence had been far apart in sentence recommendations. The Crown had sought three years in prison, but the defence had argued for an absolute discharge, the most lenient sentence possible.
Hutchison rejected the absolute discharge, saying the offence was serious, given it happened in a prison and the victims were guards. But he also said a lengthy sentence risked having a “crushing effect” on the rehabilitation efforts made by Tobaccojuice in the last three years.
“The sentence imposed by this court must ensure that Ms. Tobaccojuice can see the light at the end of the tunnel but also deters her and others from committing similar offences and denounces the events of Oct. 26, 2022,” he said.
The judge said it was apparently the first time a court was sentencing Tobaccojuice with the help of a Gladue report, which examines the background and experiences of an Indigenous offenders and their family. He noted the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prisons.
Hutchison suggested he was concerned that previous sentences Tobaccojuice faced for other offences committed behind bars were too long, and that judges in those cases didn't have the benefit of a Gladue report.
In 1997, Tobaccojuice and another teen killed youth-home care worker Helen Montgomery, 58, in North Battleford, Sask. The victim was repeatedly stabbed.
Between 2000 and 2013, Tobaccojuice amassed a record for multiple hostage-takings and assault in the prison. Victims included other inmates, guards and a nurse. Some were injured.
In his submissions, defence lawyer Jeremiah Raining Bird said Tobaccojuice’s past should be taken into account, including a childhood of violence, her experiences in the foster care system where she faced racism, and the fact her extended family were sent to residential and Indian day schools...
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What's not funny... The violence this woman constantly displays throughout her lifetime... She should 'never' be released from prison, and as for all those 'excuses'... She and her lawyer can stick those in a peace-pipe and smoke 'em.
I really dislike the idea of warehousing prisoners. I think prisons should be mostly empty.
Instead, I prefer liberal use of capital punishment, and for lesser crimes, really severe caning like they do in Singapore. It should be so bad that the criminal dreads the thought of ever breaking any rule ever again.
““The sentence imposed by this court must ensure that Ms. Tobaccojuice can see the light at the end of the tunnel “
The tunnel she is already in is a life sentence.
“Instead, I prefer liberal use of capital punishment, and for lesser crimes, “
Where do you draw the line?
She's the child of Myron Bongwater, and Esther Cancerstick.
“she blocked the door of her unit at the Nova Institution for Women and prevented two guards from leaving. She held tweezers fashioned into a weapon and threatened both the officers and herself. The guards, who stood calmly throughout, were not injured.”
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Tweezers.....really? That’s all she had?
In my state she woulda been maced, hogtied and put in a one person cell for an extended period to think about her stupidity.
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Tweezers.....unfreakinbelievable. SMH
Sounds like the only rehabilitation that would work for her would be an execution.
Her grand daddy musta been Chief tokesalot
I see three tiers of justice.
1) First offense for anything that traditionally sends someone to prison: Caning, then they are returned to society.
2) Further offenses: prison terms up to 5 years for simple assault, property crimes, things like that. Food in prison could basically be mashed potatoes. You can live forever on mashed potatoes. But you won’t like it.
3) No one ever spends more than 5 years in prison. If your crime is serious and justified by more than 5 years, or if you’ve been there before and an additional prison sentence would put your total time at more than 5 years, then it’s death penalty.
We really don’t have to have a crime problem in this country. We can get rid of criminals.
About a year ago I got into a documentary on Netflix called “Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons”.
First thing I noticed was in the colder climates like Germany ans Iceland the prisons were more like hotels with the inmates have a lot of freedom.
Prisons in the warmer climates like the Philippines, Africa and central America were absolute hell holes.
“I see three tiers of justice.”
Your previous had only two.
following a hearing that has examined her history, her Indigenous background...
You asked for more detail. I gave you more detail. You complain some more. And what are you contributing? Looks like nothing. Come back when you have an idea in your head.
So you better cut back a little.
Regards,
Canada: A really friendly place. Just ask the prison guards.
“You asked for more detail. I gave you more detail. “
Please!
You originally gave TWO tiers.
I asked what was the division between the two You gave; death penalty and gaining. You came back with THREE; death penalty, jail and caining.
“You complain some more. “
PLEASE! I didn’t complain. I just noted that you had changed from TWO to THREE.
Her nickname is, “CHEW!” Nothing “serene” about Serena.
Murder is taking another human’s life.
The history of her living a hard life is, NO WAY, an excuse to kill.
Self defense, in fear of one’s life, is the only acceptable reason to kill.
Chew should be locked up for life. If naughty in prison, solitary confinement.
Ok, I made up the nickname.
My original post, in full, but with some text now in bold:
I really dislike the idea of warehousing prisoners. I think prisons should be mostly empty.
Instead, I prefer liberal use of capital punishment, and for lesser crimes, really severe caning like they do in Singapore. It should be so bad that the criminal dreads the thought of ever breaking any rule ever again.
You posted a partial snippet of my original post and asked where I draw the line. So I listed three levels and tried to define "lines" for each.
prison
capital punishment
caning
All three are right there in my original post.
Well, Canada doesn’t have a death penalty and this trash shouldn’t see the light of day.
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