Man sentenced for pushing ex girlfriend over cliff to her death in Nanaimo

An agreed statement of facts outlined this past August heard that Watts died late on the evening of May 7, 2021, nearly a month before her body was discovered at the bottom of a steep drop-off near Nanaimo City Hall.

Crown Counsel’s Basil McCormick previously told court that Ordway confessed to a witness within hours of a confrontation with Watts, saying the woman was dead and that she had fallen off a cliff.

McCormick noted Ordway subsequently told multiple other witnesses that he pushed Watts off a cliff to her death.

An autopsy showed Watts died of extensive head injuries as a result of blunt force trauma, consistent with a fall from a significant height.

Her body was found on June 3, 2021 in an obscured area directly behind Wallace St. businesses at the bottom of a nearly 50-foot drop-off.

Ordway’s sentencing was delayed as justice Power was not satisfied that she had sufficient information on the offender’s background, thus she ordered a pre-sentence report.

In that report authored by a probation officer, Ordway relayed that while his upbringing with his two siblings and parents in the Comox Valley was absent of violence, there were significant issues in the household.

Ordway’s parents sold and used heroin, leading to the offender and his two siblings using narcotics at a young age.

Ordway was also raised in foster care environments.

He reported in the recent analysis of being depressed, lost, having anxiety attacks and that he wanted a better life for himself.

The pre-sentence report noted that Ordway only took partial responsibility for what happened to Watts.

“When asked why he didn’t go for help or assistance, Mr. Ordway said he felt panicked and that he went to the wrong people,” justice Power told the court.

The judge expanded on Ordway’s poor post-offence conduct, noting he still didn’t do the right thing even several weeks later when Nanaimo RCMP publicized Watts’ disappearance.

She called Ordway’s inaction inexplicable and highly aggravating that he did not immediately seek help from authorities.

“Even if Amy Watts was unlikely to have survived the fall, the failure to seek police and medical assistance leaves many questions about Amy’s death unanswered.”

Amy Watts was left for dead at the bottom of a cliff in downtown Nanaimo. (Submitted photo)

Justice Power acknowledged that Ordway indicated his remorse in the pre-sentence report and in court.

While a four year sentence for manslaughter may appear by observers to be a light, justice Power pointed out that case law establishes that if the facts suggests an offender’s actions are closer to near-murder then a higher sentence follows.

“Here, the Crown argues that this case is closer to a near-accident than a near-murder. The Crown noted in its submissions that they are entirely dependant on admissions that Mr. Ordway made to various witnesses in order to prove their case. The Crown noted that there is an absence of evidence here in order to prove the case.”

A lifetime firearms and restricted weapons ban also applies to Ordway, while he was ordered to submit a DNA sample.

Watts’ mother Janice Coady read an emotional victim impact statement in court in August, detailing her “emotionally crippling journey” since the death of her only child.

“I’ll never be able to hold her again, hear her voice, see her sweet smile, listen to her jokes, have movie nights, and share moments in time with her. There’s not a moment my heart doesn’t hurt from the loss of my Amy. Knowing Amy was taken from this life so brutally, and so inhumanely, with no chance to tell her truth and her story, what was truly done to her, is devastating to me.”

Coady was again in tears watching Monday’s proceedings via video from Atlantic Canada as Ordway was formally sentenced.

Watts’ father also tuned in via video to the conclusion of Ordway’s sentencing hearing.

Several members of Nanaimo RCMP’s Serious Crime Unit were also in court observing the conclusion of the Ordway/Watts case.

Watts’ death came at a time when her relationship with Ordway was mired with violence, drug addiction and unstable housing environments.

Just a few months prior to Watts’ death, she and Ordway joined forces to assault a female drug addict at a Wakesiah Ave. townhouse unit in Feb. 2021.

Ordway was found guilty by a jury last year, while the jury couldn’t find a consensus on two other charges against Ordway, which were eventually abandoned by the Crown.

The trial, which resulted in an 18-month jail sentence against Ordway for assault causing bodily harm, heard Ordway brought Watts directly from a Lower Mainland drug treatment facility to the troubled home where attacks against the victim quickly ensued.

Ordway was charged with manslaughter a year and a half after Watts’ body was discovered.

Ordway has an extensive criminal record, primarily involving property crimes which are heavily linked to drug addiction.

– with files from Jordan Davidson

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by Ian Holmes

Man sentenced for pushing ex girlfriend over cliff to her death in Nanaimo

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