Leamington, Ontario, is known as the “Tomato Capital of Canada,” a town where thousands of foreign workers, many of them Filipinos, arrive with dreams of earning a better living in the vast greenhouses. Shermaine “Sham-Sham” Caling, a 33-year-old from Benguet, was one of those dreamers.

She was a hardworking, friendly, and beloved member of the community who, through years of toil, had built a new life for herself. But in September 2022, that dream came to a brutal and tragic end when she was stabbed 48 times by her jealous live-in boyfriend.

Shermaine’s story is a familiar one for many Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). To provide a better future for her husband and two young children in the Philippines, she made the difficult decision to leave them behind and work as a seasonal fruit picker in Canada in 2016. She was the family’s breadwinner.

However, the immense strain of the long-distance relationship eventually led to the breakdown of her marriage. Despite this personal hardship, she persevered in Canada, eventually earning her permanent residency and finding a more stable factory job.

In Leamington, she found new love with Enrique Espinoza Montes, a 38-year-old refugee from Honduras. They understood each other’s struggles as immigrants trying to make their way in a new country. They moved into a rooming house together, and because Enrique’s work permit had not yet been approved, Shermaine became his financial provider. She was, by all accounts, a generous and loving partner.

But the relationship had a dark undercurrent of jealousy. Enrique became intensely suspicious that Shermaine was communicating with another man. On the afternoon of September 29, 2022, his suspicions boiled over. He confronted Shermaine, snatched her phone, and confirmed she was indeed messaging another man.

In what his lawyer would later describe as a spontaneous crime of passion, Enrique flew into a blind rage. He grabbed two sharp objects and attacked Shermaine in a frenzied assault, stabbing her a total of 48 times—21 times in her back, 17 times in her neck, and 10 times across her torso.

His actions in the immediate aftermath were bizarre. He did not attempt to flee or hide his crime. Instead, he sent an audio message to a friend, confessing to what he had done. He then walked outside, calmly informed his landlord that he had just ended his girlfriend’s life, and lay face down on the ground to await the arrival of the police. He was arrested at the scene without incident.

The case culminated in a sentencing hearing where two conflicting narratives were presented. Enrique’s defense attorney argued for a lighter sentence, pointing to his immediate confession, his cooperation, and a medical report showing he had been diagnosed with mild depression and anxiety just one day before the incident. They painted him as a man who lost control in a moment of emotional turmoil.

The prosecutor, however, argued for a harsher penalty. He contended that the sheer number of stab wounds—48—was not the act of a man who momentarily snapped. It was “overkill,” a focused and sustained act of violence that went far beyond a simple crime of passion.

In the end, Enrique Espinoza Montes pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence. The judge’s only decision was when he would be eligible for parole, a period that can range from 10 to 25 years.

The story of Shermaine Caling is a devastating tragedy about an OFW mother who sacrificed everything for her family, only to have her life stolen by a partner’s explosive jealousy. It leaves behind two orphaned children in the Philippines, the ultimate victims of a love that turned deadly thousands of miles from home.