Valentine’s Day Nightmare: The Murder of Betty Hart

On the evening of February 14, 1985, Valentine’s Day, at around 6:00 p.m., Bryan Hart of Colborne, Ontario, came home to a quiet house after work. He looked around the house for his wife, Betty, but could not find her. The couple’s 19-year-old son had already been home for an hour and a half. Michael said he hadn’t seen his mom but had noticed a pair of glasses she wore sitting on the landing leading into the basement. Thinking his mother was out somewhere, Michael picked up the glasses and put them on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen for safekeeping. On learning about the glasses from Michael, Bryan felt compelled to check the basement. It was the only place he hadn’t checked yet. In the cellar, Bryan discovered Betty lying on her side in a vast pool of blood. She was unresponsive. Bryan raced back upstairs and told his son to call an ambulance. Marguerite Elizabeth (Betty) Hart, 46, was dead. Among Betty’s many injuries, her throat had been slashed. Early on, the OPP presumed Betty’s wounds to be self-inflicted, but not all was as it appeared. Sources: 1987 CanLII 124 (ON CA) | R. v. Moran | CanLII SCC Docket | Donald Philip John Moran v. Her Majesty the Queen Mar 09, 1985, page 3 - The Toronto Star at Newspapers.com Mar 12, 1985, page 2 - The Toronto Star at Newspapers.com Mar 13, 1985, page 2 - The Kingston Whig-Standard at Newspapers.com Mar 14, 1985, page 2 - The Toronto Star at Newspapers.com Apr 30, 1985, page 7 - The Toronto Star at Newspapers.com Jul 23, 1985, page 5 - The Toronto Star at Newspapers.com Jun 06, 1985, page 2 - The Kingston Whig-Standard at Newspapers.com Jun 28, 1985, page 6 - The Kingston Whig-Standard at Newspapers.com Jan 08, 1986, page 7 - The Hamilton Spectator at Newspapers.com Jan 08, 1986, page 32 - The Expositor at Newspapers.com Jan 09, 1986, page 15 - The Expositor at Newspapers.com Jan 16, 1986, page 62 - Waterloo Region Record at Newspapers.com Jan 16, 1986, page 10 - The Expositor at Newspapers.com Jan 17, 1986, page 8 - The Expositor at Newspapers.com Jan 18, 1986, page 8 - Waterloo Region Record at Newspapers.com http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/CTPL/CTPL002508964pf_0156.pdf http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/CTPL/CTPL002508964pf_0155.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices