Matthew Splinter Charged in Connection With Three Deaths on Bobs Lake

Jeff Green | Oct 30, 2024

Frontenac OPP have invited members of the media to attend an announcement at their detachment office in Hartington on Wednesday morning (October 30) at 10:30am.

At that time, Seargeant Marty McConnel announced that Matthew Splinter, the driver of a speed boat that struck a "fishing type boat" at dusk on May 18 on Buck Bay of Bobs Lake,  had been arrested a day earlier and charged with three counts of Dangerous Operation of a Conveyance causing death, three counts of Dangerous Operation of a Conveyance causing bodily harm, three counts of impaired operation causing death, and three counts of dangerous operation causing bodily harm.

A bail hearing in the case took place on Wednesday morning.

The collision that resulted in the charges resulted in the deaths of three adults in their early 20’s, - Riley Orr, 23, Kaila Bearman, 21, and Julliette Côtė, 22.

The three were struck by a speed boat with the words “Y Wouldn’t Ya” painted on it side, driven by Splinter, who onw property on the lake.

There have been persistent media inquiries to the OPP over the summer asking if charges will be laid in the matter, and if so, what those charges would be.\

When asked whether any consideration to charging Splinter with the more serious charge of Manslaughter, Seargeant MConnel said "We looked at the case, and we laid the appropriate charges of dangerous operatoin conveyhance. And the impaired charges. We felt that was the appropriate charge. We do that in consultation with our crown attorney."

There is a wide range of possible sanctions for the charges that have been laid in this case. According to Legaline.ca, "Every person who is convicted of the indictable offence of operation of a conveyance causing death is liable to imprisonment for life and to a minimum punishment of, for a first offence, a fine of $1,000; for a second offence, imprisonment for a term of 30 days; and for each subsequent offence, imprisonment for a term of 120 days.

For the offense of impaired operation causing death, there is no minimum sentence and the maximum sentence is life imprisonment.

The minimum sentence for a conviction for manslaughter in Canada is 10-16 months imprisonment.