Ex-engineer not guilty of criminal negligence in deadly Ontario mall collapse
A discredited former engineer who declared an Ontario mall structurally sound just weeks before its deadly collapse five years ago was acquitted of criminal negligence on Thursday.
While critical of how Robert Wood conducted himself, Superior Court Justice Edward Gareau in Sault. Ste. Marie, Ont., nevertheless found insufficient evidence to convict him.
Teresa Perizzolo, daughter of one of the two women who died in the mall collapse, said she was disappointed, but said Gareau had done his best.
“I was hoping somebody would get nailed with it,” Perizzolo said in an interview. “But the law’s the law, right, so it’s pretty much done the proper way I guess.”