Bio

Cherrylle Margaret Dell was born in 1957.

She married Scott Dell when she was 17 and he was 19. The marriage took place in Oshawa. The couple had three children.

They moved to the Killaloe area around 1990. Their marriage lasted more than 20 years. They separated in 1992.

After the separation, Dell had relationships with women. She met Gay Doherty at an incest survivors' group. She later lived with Nancy Fillmore, who worked as the children's nanny.

Reports from the time say Dell had worked as a stripper earlier in her life. She lived in and around Killaloe and was known to people in that community.

Murder Story

Cherrylle Margaret Dell was born in 1957. She was charged in Killaloe, Ontario in connection with two deaths. The victims were her estranged husband, Scott Dell, 44, and her former lover, Nancy Fillmore, 39. The deaths occurred on December 29, 1995, and August 19, 1997.

Scott Dell was found dead after drinking wine that contained ethylene glycol, a form of antifreeze. His death was first thought to be a suicide. Nancy Fillmore later went to police and said she had bought wine and antifreeze for Cherrylle Dell and had watched Dell mix them. Fillmore said Dell gave the bottle to Scott and kept him on the phone that night. Cherrylle Dell was arrested in December 1997 and charged in Scott Dell’s death.

Nancy Fillmore died in an apartment fire in August 1997. She died of smoke inhalation. A teenager, Brent Crawford, later stood trial and was convicted of first-degree murder in Fillmore’s death. Police statements and videotaped interviews linked Fillmore’s death and her earlier statements about Scott Dell’s poisoning to Cherrylle Dell. Some of those videotapes and interviews were ruled admissible and some were excluded during court proceedings.

Cherrylle Dell’s trial about Scott Dell’s death was held without a jury. In February 2001 Ontario Superior Court Justice James Chadwick found her guilty of first-degree murder in Scott Dell’s death. The judge wrote that Dell wanted Scott out of her life and found beyond a reasonable doubt that the wine was laced with antifreeze. In February 2001 she was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Dell faced a separate charge related to Nancy Fillmore’s death. She later pleaded guilty to counselling Brent Crawford to intimidate Fillmore. Crawford had been convicted of first-degree murder in Fillmore’s death.

Dell appealed her conviction, and in March 2005 her appeal was dismissed. In July 2013 her lawyer filed a faint hope application to seek earlier parole eligibility under rules that applied to her case. Her lawyer said she admitted killing her husband and accepted responsibility. News reports said Dell was transferred to a different prison and had completed rehabilitation programs. She remained serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.