The 47-year-old Chesley man originally charged with first degree murder in the disappearance of a 15-year-old Hanover girl pleaded guilty to second degree murder in a Walkerton Superior Court on Tuesday.
At his arraignment Tuesday, Anthony Edward Ringel entered a plea of guilty in the death of Christine Harron, who disappeared May 18th, 1993 while on her way to John Diefenbaker Secondary School in Hanover. Her body has never been found.
Ringel stood in the prisoner’s box, his head bowed at times throughout the proceedings.
The Crown relayed details of an undercover OPP investigation outlining Ringel's admission of events on the day Harron disappeared and ultimately died. Among the details, admission that Ringel had been out for walk on May 18th 1993. He came across Christine Harron, grabbed her arm and led her to a remote wooded area near the Saugeen River where she was sexually assaulted and suffocated; her body left on the riverbed and covered up by Ringel a day later.
Both Defense Counsel and Crown Counsel entered a joint submission to the Court seeking a sentence of life imprisonment with no eligibility for parole for at least 12 years, a submission the Judge told the Court he was satisfied with.
"Neither Christine nor anyone deserved to be attacked or killed at such a tender age," the Judge told the Court. "I accept the joint submission, it seems amicably reasonable to me."
Christine Harron's mother, Mary Ann, stood before the court, delivering a very powerful victim impact statement aimed directly at Ringel.
"My daughter was a very beautiful young girl," she told the court. "I will never get to walk her down the aisle at her wedding; I suffer from depression and post traumatic stress disorder and I cannot move on with my life until I get some answers," she said choking back tears, adding, "Anthony, I pray that you will sit down with me and talk to me and give me some answers."
Christine's body has never been found, the Crown telling the Court the likelyhood of finding any trace of human remains or forensic evidence is very low due to the amount of time that has elapsed, the forces of nature and the constant running waters of the Saugeen River.
While the Judge did offer some heartfelt condolence to Christine's family, there will never be full closure for them.
"I hope that what has happened here today will provide you with at least some sense of closure and some sense of peace," said the Judge. "You have waited more than two decades for some sort of justice."
*With files from Steve Sabourin and Janice MacKay