Verna Elizabeth Tosh

1916 - 2004  (88 years)

• Name	Verna Elizabeth Tosh
  Born	1916
  Gender	Female
  Interesting	misfortune, crime, murder
  Misfortune	2004	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  	murdered in her Kitchener home.
  Name	Verna Elizabeth Bast
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-162511
  Died	29 Aug 2004	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Buried	Memory Gardens Cemetery, Breslau, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Person ID	I162511	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Family	Aaron S. Bast,   b. 6 Nov 1895, Wellesley Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 10 Mar 1966, Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada  (Age 70 years)
  Married	27 May 1939
  Children	1. Philip Bast,   b. 1950,   d. 1 Dec 2014, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 64 years)
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F46401	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  BAST, Verna - Suddenly, and tragically at her home in Kitchener, on Friday, February 20, 2004, age 87 years. Dear mother of Melvin and his wife Catherine of Richmond Hill, Philip and his wife Barbara of Waterloo and Miriam Bast of Toronto; grandmother of Rachel Bast and Lionel Bast of Kitchener and Aaron Bast of Waterloo; sister of Harry Tosh of Sarnia, Viola Earl of Grimsby, Gordon Tosh of Arthur and Arnold Tosh of Collingwood. Predeceased by her husband, Aaron Bast in 1966 and brothers, Oliver and William Tosh. Friends and relatives are invited to share their memories of Verna with her family at the Edward R. Good Funeral Home, 171 King Street South, Waterloo, Wednesday (today) and Thursday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. The service to celebrate Verna's life and faith will be held at Waterloo Pentecostal Assembly, 395 King Street North, Waterloo, on Friday, February 27, 2004, at 1 p.m. Interment will take place at Memory Gardens, Breslau. Immediately following the service, friends and relatives are invited to remain at the church for refreshments and a time to visit with the family.In memory of Verna, donations to the Gideon Bible Society would be appreciate as expressions of sympathy and can be arranged through the funeral home, phone 745-8445 or www.edwardrgood.com The Record 21 Feb 2004 ________________________ Appeal court upholds parole in double murder case KITCHENER - A Kitchener man who savagely murdered two members of a Kitchener house church must serve 21 years in prison before he can seek parole, Ontario's highest court has confirmed. KITCHENER - A Kitchener man who savagely murdered two members of a Kitchener house church must serve 21 years in prison before he can seek parole, Ontario's highest court has confirmed. The Ontario Court of Appeal has rejected a bid by Michael Sirois to have his period of parole ineligibility reduced to 16 to 18 years. The decision, published this week, means Sirois, 32, cannot seek parole until February, 2025. Sirois was sentenced to life in prison in 2008 for the murders of 87-year-old Verna Bast, and her 47-year-old boarder, Randy Penner, on Feb. 20, 2004. Sirois attacked the pair, who were members of a church group he attended as a child, after knocking on the door of Bast's Glasgow Street home in Kitchener. He easily overpowered Bast who was frail and nearly blind, stabbing her four times in a frenzy. He stabbed Penner 25 times, including through both of his eyes. Sirois blamed Verna Bast and members of her small house church for influencing his parents to raise him too strictly. He claimed his parents, who were once members of the group, had ruined his life as a child. Sirois pleaded guilty in 2007 to two counts of second-degree murder, plus assault and assault causing bodily harm for attacks on Penner and another boarder several weeks before the murders. A trial was held to determine whether he should be found not criminally responsible, due to mental illness. Superior Court Justice Pat Flynn not only found him morally responsible, but ruled he couldn't apply for parole for 21 years, which was three years more than the prosecutor had asked for. Flynn cited the savageness of the double killings, Sirois' lack of remorse, his poor prospects for rehabilitation and his future danger to the community. He concluded that Sirois, who called himself a Satanist, was an angry avenging psychopath who knew what he was doing despite his illness. The appeal court found no reason to overturn Flynn's decision. " . . . It is evident that the trial judge did not consider the Crown's position on parole to reflect a fit period of ineligibility,'' the court said. "We do not agree that the trial judge unreasonably over-emphasized the brutality of the crimes, or described them in overly emotional language.'' The court noted Sirois raised no new issues to consider at the appeal. Verna Bast's son, Phil Bast, said Wednesday that the appeal court found no error in Flynn's decision. "It was the right thing, in this case,'' he said. "What that reflects, in my mind, is the thoroughness and competence of Judge Flynn in formulating his decision. "He did not take anything lightly. He was very thorough in his analysis and his rationale. "He was making a statement, obviously, about the nature of the crime and what he considers to be the rehabilitative status of (Sirois).'' Sirois will have the right to request a parole hearing some day, Bast said. His family will be there to "ensure the memory of the victims is present and spoken for. "That's a burden that we have as a family. I'll be passing that burden on to my son,'' he said. "All we can do is say we believe he's a danger to society.'' Sirois' lawyer, Monte MacGregor, argued before the appeal court that Flynn placed undue emphasis on retribution. He also said Flynn was "blinded by the emotion and horrific nature of this case.'' Sirois has 14 years left to serve before he's eligible for parole in 2025. It's not automatic, however. The parole board can refuse to release him, possibly for life. Sirois will be eligible to apply for day parole and unescorted temporary absences in February, 2022, three years before his full parole eligibility. But he would have to undergo a risk assessment and present a release plan before the board would consider such a request, said parole board spokesperson Carol Sparling. dwood@therecord.com https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/appeal-court-upholds-parole-in-double-murder-case/article_ba9e1fc4-1d6c-5a65-af85-a09d92452161.html?

  
  

• Event Map

  Misfortune - murdered in her Kitchener home. - 2004 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 29 Aug 2004 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Memory Gardens Cemetery, Breslau, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth