An Ontario judge should rule that a former pastor convicted in the death of his pregnant wife secretly sedated her with a prescription drug before she drowned in the bathtub of their Toronto home nearly eight years ago, prosecutors argued Wednesday.

Lawyers for the Crown and the defence made submissions on what the court should deem as a fact in sentencing Philip Grandine, who was found guilty of manslaughter in February in the death of his wife Anna Grandine.

Jurors were told they could convict Philip Grandine if they found he secretly drugged his wife with the anti-anxiety drug lorazepam or provided it to her; or he knew she had taken it and did nothing to stop her from getting in the bath while under its influence.

Prosecutors argued Wednesday the judge should rule that Philip Grandine surreptitiously administered the medication better known as Ativan to his wife, having stolen it from his workplace with the intention of incapacitating her.

They also asked the court to find that Anna Grandine, who went by Karissa, did not knowingly consume the drug at any point.

Anna Grandine had not been prescribed Ativan and there was no evidence she knew about the drug or had any desire to medicate herself for any emotional state, prosecutor Donna Kellway said.

Her confusion at experiencing symptoms consistent with the use of lorazepam a few days before her death further suggests she did not know she had taken the drug, Kellway said.

“It was clear that she could not explain the cause of those symptoms,” the lawyer said.

Philip Grandine, meanwhile, “bore a hostile animus towards his wife … he was unhappy in his marriage,” Kellway said.

Anna Grandine was 29 years old and 20 weeks pregnant when she died in October 2011, and tests later revealed she had lorazepam in her blood despite having not been prescribed it.

Defence lawyers argued at trial she took the medication herself and either slipped and drowned in the tub or took her own life.

On Wednesday, defence lawyer Amit Thakore argued the evidence does not support a finding that his client administered the drug.

Though Philip Grandine may have had access to lorazepam through his job, there is no evidence he was in possession of the medication, which would be required for him to give it to his wife, with or without her knowledge, Thakore argued.

No medication was reported missing from the nursing home where Philip Grandine worked as a nurse manager, the defence lawyer said.

Court heard at trial that Philip Grandine had recently stepped down as pastor after his affair with a parishioner, who was also his wife’s friend, was uncovered.

He then began working at a facility and was responsible for distributing and disposing of medication to residents, court heard.

The couple sought marriage counselling from another pastor, who agreed to help them as long as Philip Grandine ended the affair and gave up pornography, court heard.

Though they accepted the conditions, Philip Grandine quietly resumed his dalliance, and eventually his wife began to suspect that was the case, court heard.

A few days before her death, Anna Grandine suddenly experienced a number of symptoms, such as dizziness and fatigue, which she could not explain, court heard.

He husband took her to the hospital, where she underwent a number of tests, but by then her symptoms had faded and she was released, court heard.

When forensic pathologists detected Ativan in her system after her death, they checked blood samples taken at the hospital and also found the drug, court heard.

Superior Court Justice Faye McWatt will rule on the facts of the case at a later date, allowing the Crown and defence to make submissions on an appropriate sentence.

This is Philip Grandine’s second trial in connection with his wife’s death.

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In the first trial, on a charge of first-degree murder, he was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

The conviction was overturned on appeal, however, after Ontario’s highest court found the trial judge had made an error in answering a question from the jury.

A new trial was ordered on the manslaughter charge, precluding prosecutors from arguing Philip Grandine intended to kill his wife.