Warning: This article contains details and images that may be disturbing. The Crown wants an Orillia man who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of a Midland couple sentenced to 25 years in prison. The sentence proposed by the prosecution for Spencer Fulton would be the court’s harshest in history for dangerous driving causing death. Crown Attorney Sarah Sullivan told the court Fulton should be sentenced to such an “extraordinary and exemplary” term after being convicted of five counts including: dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, and driving while prohibited for his actions Feb. 8, 2025, in the three-vehicle crash along County Road 27 in Elmvale. The Crown told the court that Fulton, who has been diagnosed with autism, is “obsessed with driving.” Fulton, the court heard as part of an Agreed Statement of Facts, initially hit a Hyundai Tucson then crashed his pickup truck into the Kings’ Honda CR-V that was on the gravel shoulder. Fulton admitted to speeding and overtaking other vehicles that day, crossing into oncoming traffic before hitting two vehicles at about noon. The second vehicle hit was driven by Linda King, 77, with her husband Larry, 80, in the passenger seat. The Kings both died on scene. Two others, in the Hyundai, were taken to hospital with serious injuries. Fulton, who was banned from driving for five years in 2022, was found behind the wheel of a work truck for a snow removal company. “Mr. Fulton should never have been driving that day,” said the Crown. “This was not an isolated failure of judgment.” The Crown called Fulton’s actions a “continued and repeated failure” by ignoring court orders. “This was not a one-time poor decision,” the prosecutor argued. The court heard Fulton was repeatedly driving while banned between April 2023 and January 2025, when he police on six occasions to complain about the driving behaviour of others. The Crown said Fulton claimed to be his father when calling police. The prosecution called Fulton’s actions a “sustained lifestyle” by driving while prohibited in “clear defiance” of court orders. The court heard from the Kings’ family members who described being heartbroken by their tragic deaths. Mr. King had recently survived cancer and had so much to live for when they were taken, his loved ones explained. One son called their deaths senseless and needless. The Crown told Justice Howard Leibovich that the unprecedented sentence being sought should not be considered a “crushing” one and is “within the realm of possibility.” The prosecution is also seeking that Fulton be banned from driving for life, which the defence did not oppose. The Crown argued Fulton “needs to have a deep appreciation for the risk that he poses to the rest of society” when he is eventually released from prison. The defence is seeking a 10-year sentence, less time served in pre-sentence custody. The 32-year-old father of three has been in jail since the crash. Defence lawyer Jeffrey Fisher argued his client’s autism diagnosis should factor into the case when considering his moral culpability. The defence argued Fulton has had a longstanding “pre-occupation” with cars and struggled throughout his life with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Fulton is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
