Man given 8-year sentence in woman's death
CBC News
Posted: Jan 29, 2013 3:06 PM MT
Last Updated: Jan 29, 2013 10:27 PM MT
Violet Ward believes Houle should have received a sentence of at least 10 to 15 years in her daughter's death. (CBC)
An Edmonton man was given an 8-year prison sentence Tuesday in the death and dismemberment of Misty Lynn Ward on New Year’s Eve 2011.
Joshua James Houle, 28, pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter and interfering with a dead body in Ward’s death.
Houle was sentenced to 6 years for the manslaughter charge and 2 years for the charge of interfering with a dead body, which will be served consecutively.
The judge gave Houle credit for the year he served in remand.
Ward's mother was upset about the sentence Houle received for her daughter's death.
"I just can't get over what he got," Violet Ward told reporters outside the courthouse. "It's just a slap in the face. He's laughing."
Ward believes Houle should have been sentenced to at least 10 to 15 years in prison.
"Eight years? I'm very upset."
The court was told that Houle grabbed a steak knife and stabbed Misty Ward in the neck when she woke him after a night of drinking in an apartment at 83rd Street and Jasper Avenue.
Houle couldn't stop the bleeding. Instead of calling for help, he dismembered Ward's body to make it easier to move.
The building manager found Ward's body while he was investigating a leak of pink-coloured water.
With files from the CBC's James Hees
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