A Richmond woman who bludgeoned her husband to death has been sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 11 years.
In March, a B.C. Supreme Court jury found Jo Anne Alexander, 63, guilty of the January 2012 second-degree murder of John Alexander, 61.
Second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison with a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 25 years of parole ineligibility At issue at a sentencing hearing for Alexander last week was the period of parole ineligibility, with the Crown calling for a period of 12 years before she can apply for parole and the defence asking for the minimum of 10 years.
In imposing a period of a parole ineligibility of 11 years on Alexander, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jeanne Watchuk noted on Tuesday that the offender had struck her husband over the head while he was sleeping, lying defenceless in his bed.
The judge found it to be an aggravating factor that Alexander was a caregiver to a vulnerable victim. Court heard that John
Alexander, who suffered from depression, was recovering from surgery at the time of the slaying. Watchuk also dismissed the claims of Alexander that her husband was harming himself by sticking a knife in his ear just prior to her striking him over the head with a baseball bat or a hammer.
- The Province. Full story at richmond-news.com
