By Dan Walton
The woman responsible for Roxanne Louie’s death has been found guilty of second-degree murder.
Sixty-seven-year-old Grace Robotti, the grandmother-in-law of the victim, admitted to killing Louie with a crowbar on Jan. 4, 2015 but argued it was in self defence. A jury of seven men and five women rejected her version of events and found her guilty on the evening of April 6.
This will compound Grace Robotti’s sentence, scheduled for April 18, after she previously pleaded guilty to interfering with a dead body.
Louie, a member of the Osoyoos Indian Band who was 26 years old at the time of her death, had a contentious relationship with the murderer.
According to Grace Robotti, the violent fight that led to her death broke out after a heated argument over how to best care for Louie’s three-year-old son inside of her Penticton home on Jan. 4, 2015. An autopsy showed that Louie was struck 26 times in the head. Grace Robotti admitted to striking Louie with a crowbar as many times while her brother, Pier Robotti, was holding Louie down.
Afterwards, the siblings assumed Louie was dead and dumped her body in a wooded area off Arawana Road near Naramata.
Grace Robotti returned home and cleaned up the scene of the crime. She then phoned Louie’s cell, knowing well she was already dead, as a way to substantiate the falsified missing person’s case that she and her brother would report three days later.
Grace and Pier Robotti eventually confessed to police on Jan. 11, 2015, the day the body was recovered in the woods.
“Roxanne Louie died under tragic circumstances, and we acknowledge these circumstances,” reads a statement from the Louie family. “However, we also ask everyone to see past the trauma inflicted upon Roxanne and to remember her for her vibrant energy. She was also a beautiful woman, with a great big smile. She grew to be a very generous and responsible mom, who loved to go on many outings to the park or beach with her son.”
With the guilty verdict, the Louie family feels as though justice has been served to one of the culprits.
“The jury’s verdict to convict Grace Robotti of second-degree murder is the best outcome in this terrible situation.”
Pier, who was facing second-degree murder and manslaughter charges, had those charges stayed after pleading guilty to moving a body in March.
“We are extremely disappointed in Pier Robotti’s sentence of interfering with a body,” reads the Louie family statement. “These past two years have been extremely difficult; we feel our loss in so many ways. As family and friends to Roxanne we are still processing both convictions. However, we are relieved for the closure Grace Robotti’s verdict brings.”
Both will be sentenced on April 18.
