KITCHENER, Ont. – A young woman who sexually blackmailed her boyfriend into killing a 14-year-old girl she saw as a rival more than a decade ago is set to appear before the Parole Board of Canada today.

Melissa Todorovic was convicted in 2009 for masterminding the murder of Stefanie Rengel, a girl she had never met but who became the focus of her jealousy.

Rengel had briefly dated Todorovic’s then-boyfriend, David Bagshaw, years earlier and Todorovic threatened to break up with him or withhold sex unless he killed his former flame.

He eventually carried out her command, stabbing Rengel six times and leaving her to die in a snowbank outside her house on New Year’s Day, 2008.

Todorovic was sentenced in 2009 as an adult to life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years, the maximum adult sentence for someone her age. She challenged the ruling but it was upheld on appeal.

Bagshaw is also serving an adult life sentence after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.

At a hearing late last year, the parole board granted Todorovic three unescorted three-day absences from prison, saying she had made progress in handling her emotions but still needed to work on her self-esteem and other issues.

Todorovic said at the time she planned to use the absences to continue therapy after her sessions were discontinued in prison, and work with an employment counsellor to see what she could do once released.

During that hearing, Todorovic said the plot against Rengel was fuelled by intense jealousy and rage, as well as a desire to exert power over Bagshaw.

Todorovic also told the panel she had asked him to kill at least two others she considered rivals, and said she had made a similar request of a previous boyfriend, which caused him to end the relationship.

Todorovic, who for years insisted she didn’t believe Bagshaw would go through with the killing, said during the hearing that she now felt like a “monster” for telling him to do it.

She also said she didn’t want anything to do with Bagshaw anymore, despite a recent attempt he made to reach her.

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