5 | This Week | Thursday,February 17,2022 durham region.com What happensWhen your brain doesn't get enough sound? Your ears collect sound, but it's your brain that actually understands it. With hearing loss, there isn't enough sound information coming to your brain from your ears, or the quality of that information is too low. This makes it much harder for the brain to orient itself in your surroundings, and focus on what's important. That's why good hearing helps your brain stay fit throughout your life. Call today to book your no charge hearing assessment to learn about your hearing ability. *receive an in-office demo of oticon's BrainhearingtM technology. *Clinician to determine candidacy. We offer oticon's BrainhearingtM technology, which helps you to: Orient better in the full sound scene Focus more clearly on what you choose Improve your understanding of speech Reduce the effort it takes you to listen Improve your memory 1031 simcoe street north, oshawa, on. L1g 4W3 Funding Ministry of Health Assistive Devices Program, GM Green Shield, VAC,WSIB, ODSP, and MCSS funding available. receive up to $2500 off a pair of oticon's BrainhearingtM technology for a limited time. Call clinic today for details. 905-240-5055 www.deeganhearingclinic.com Proudly Family owned, local mattersPROUDLY FAMILY OWNED.LOCAL MATTERS When determining Cory Fenn's guilt in an Ajax triple homicide, it wasn't a question of did he do it -- the evidence was overwhelming that he killed his girlfriend and two of her children -- but whether he had the requisite state of mind for murder, said the presiding judge. In a trial where Fenn chose to defend himself and offered no defence on his own behalf other than bizarrely rambling about finding his soul, Superior Court judge Howard Leibovich was left to determine whether his claims in a police interview that he was in a cocaine-induced psychosis were a mitigating factor. Ultimately, Fenn was convicted of second-degree murder in the deaths of Krassimira "Krissy" Pejcinovsk, her 15-year-old son Roy and 13-year-old daughter Venellia. Krissy and Roy were found dead at 36 Hilling Dr. in Ajax on March 14, 2018, and Venellia -- Vana to her friends -- was found grievously wounded in the basement of the home and later died in hospital. Fenn was arrested that same day in Oshawa after he was found hiding in a shed and he confessed to the murders in an interview with Durham police on March 15. In the interview, he claimed that he was in a cocaine psychosis and also offered up some details of the murders. In a lengthy ruling on Feb. 11, Leibovich said that while he believed Fenn was using cocaine, he did not believe his claims of memory gaps or a cocaine-induced psychosis. He pointed out that Fenn's claims of memory loss were inconsistent with saying he didn't want to remember and with his descriptions of the crimes. Fenn's claims were also inconsistent with expert testimony on the effects of cocaine, which is not known to prompt blackouts, as well as testimony on how quickly cocaine is metabolized, said Leibovich. Krissy and Roy were likely killed some time after midnight but before 5 a.m. as Fenn wiped his cellphone at that time, said the judge. He also made an effort to conceal Krissy's body, hiding her under a pile of tires in the garage. Witness testimony narrowed the attack on Venellia to a short window after 10:30 a.m. the day of the killings. A friend sleeping over noted that the teen girl went downstairs in search of her mother. Ten minutes later Krissy's boss Sherry Robinson arrived and spoke to Fenn. Robinson would describe seeing blood on Fenn's clothes. Police arrived shortly afterwards but Fenn had fled. He was caught on camera at a gas station just after 11 a.m. in Pickering and all the witnesses, including Venellia's friend, Robinson, the gas station attendant and the taxi cab driver who drove Fenn to Oshawa, said he didn't seem impaired. In fact, experts had testified that someone in a state of cocaine psychosis would have had difficulty driving to Pickering. "It shows he was not intoxicated when he attacked Vanna," said Leibovich, pointing out that Fenn knew what he was doing as he told police he purposefully looked away while kicking the girl during a "savage attack." Leibovich pointed to Fenn's own words to police as his motive for killing Krissy: he was enraged that she was accusing him of cheating. He beat and strangled her in the garage and when she continued to breathe, Fenn got a knife and killed her. "I found that his rage in killing Krissy led to his attack on Roy. With respect to Vana, I find that Mr. Fenn attacked her in a futile, pathetic attempt to escape detection. "By the time Mr. Fenn attacked Vana, he had already killed Krissy and Roy and buried Krissy's body under tires and garbage bags ... Vana came to him looking for her mother and he murdered her for it." As to Fenn's claims during his trial that he had found his soul and true purpose while incarcerated, Leibovich handily dismissed those claims. "This is not a valid defence." Following his verdict, Leibovich asked Fenn if he wanted to retain a lawyer for his sentencing, pointing out that murder carries an automatic life sentence and the main issue to determine in sentencing is when Fenn would be eligible to apply for parole. The minimum time is 10 years. Fenn declined and Leibovich determined that Fenn's former lawyer, who was appointed as a friend of the court to ensure he received a fair trial, would continue to serve in that role for sentencing. He will be sentenced on March 18. KILLER FENN FUELLED BY RAGE NOT COCAINE PSYCHOSIS: JUDGE REKA SZEKELY rszekely@durhamregion.com NEWS Krassimira Pejcinovski, 39, her daughter Venellia, 13 and her son Roy, 15. Facebook photos