A new court ruling combines sociological analysis and the facts of a minor crime to create a new genre of narrative that could be called Rural Ontario Gothic. Here is that ruling, in the case of His Majesty the King and Neil Valliant, handed down October 21, 2025, in Pembroke, Ont., by Justice J.R. Richardson, who compellingly tells the story of a shooting that injured no one but revealed a great deal:

Introduction

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[ 1 ] On February 12, 2025, shortly before 11:45 pm, the bucolic silence of the Village of Westmeath was broken by three sounds that are unnatural in that setting at that hour.

[ 2 ] First, the blaring of a car alarm.

[ 3 ] Second, the report of a shotgun blast.

[ 4 ] Third, the report of another shotgun blast.

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