Edmonton Escort Killer Sentenced

moi

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Mar 31, 2008
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http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/s...ertson-murder-plea.html#socialcomments-submit

"An Edmonton man will spend 13 years in prison before he can apply for parole for the June 2008 slaying of Edmonton escort Chantel Robertson, a judge ruled Friday.

Matthew Todd Barrett, 25, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Friday morning. He was originally charged with first-degree murder and offering indignity to a body.

"Mr. Barrett's actions were callous to the extreme — cruel beyond belief," said Court of Queen's Bench Justice Sterling Sanderman in Edmonton as he handed down the sentence.

Second-degree murder convictions carry an automatic life sentence with parole eligibility in the range of 10 to 25 years.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Barrett paid $350 for Robertson's services but needed the money back to pay the rent. He strangled the young woman and then sometime later that morning, threw her body out the window and buried her body in the bungalow's backyard. After smoking some marijuana, he went to bed.

"That is just chilling. That is the stuff of horror stories," Justice Sanderman said.

"You can't even comprehend the loss, you truly can't," Robertson's father, Michael, said outside court. "We've said we'd rather have lost our daughter to a sickness, an accident, serving our country. We could have accepted any of that. Not a senseless crime like this."

Robertson, 20, was last seen in the early hours of June 28, 2008, when she was dropped off at a client's residence. She was reported missing the next day after she didn't show up for work, which was considered highly unusual for her. Her cellphone was also turned off.

Robertson's body was found a day later. The medical examiner determined she had died as a result of strangulation."



He got 13 years and she lost at least 50. How is that fair? I didn't attend any of the trials nor did I care to find out the details of her autopsy but some of the comment those people made were callous and cold-hearted. It doesn't matter if they argue she was an escort or a whore. What matters is that she was a person. A true friend, an amazing person with the brightest blue eyes I had ever seen in my life.
 

Thatotherguy

Active member
Jan 31, 2008
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Even though they should have strung the bastard up, 13 years before parole is pretty tough in Canada as of late, much better than most sentences, but nowhere near enough, as she got life
Very very true. Frankly I'm surprised he got that long. He should have got longer, but given the pathetic state of what is laughably known as the justice system in Canada, it's lucky he got as long a sentence as he did. I can guarantee that if the same thing had happened in BC he would serve a far shorter sentence. :mad:
 

festealth

Resident Troll
Sep 8, 2005
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It is still 13 years before he can apply for parole, it doesn't mean he'll definately get it.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if he "displays good behaviour" in prison, which cuts off a few years and then he applies for parole and he becomes a free man....
 

trackstar

Swollen Member
Jun 26, 2004
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It is still 13 years before he can apply for parole, it doesn't mean he'll definately get it.

Though I wouldn't be surprised if he "displays good behaviour" in prison, which cuts off a few years and then he applies for parole and he becomes a free man....
He won't get it. When on plea bargains from 1st to 2nd degree murder, the sentence will be the same as 1st degree, as he will go through in essence a mini trial when he is eligible for parole and all of the details of his crime and plea bargain will be heard. Clifford Olsen has been eligible to apply for early release for many years, but will spend the rest of his life in jail. The "Man" in this case will be locked up well beyond 13 years.

His sentence was no different than those of pretty much any other murder case of its kind. There was no injustice due to the victim being an escort, so I'm not sure what the point of the thread is. None of the other similar cases are being brought to light, yet are no less tragic are they? :confused:
 

Thatotherguy

Active member
Jan 31, 2008
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Clifford Olsen has been eligible to apply for early release for many years, but will spend the rest of his life in jail. The "Man" in this case will be locked up well beyond 13 years.

His sentence was no different than those of pretty much any other murder case of its kind. There was no injustice due to the victim being an escort, so I'm not sure what the point of the thread is. None of the other similar cases are being brought to light, yet are no less tragic are they? :confused:
Clifford Olsen is the wrong person to compare any case to. His case is high profile enough that there would be a truly massive public outcry if he was paroled. Anyone who isn't that high profile has a good chance of being paroled as soon as they're eligible. I'm not saying this guy will be paroled after 13 years, but he's got a decent chance of it, and that's wrong. For 2nd degree murder the guideline is parole eligibility after 10-25 years. As far as I'm concerned that should mean that 25 years is the default, and in order for the parole eligibility to be shorter than that there should be both genuine remorse, and some sort of mitigating circumstances. I know that's not the way it actually works in Canada, however.

Oh, and I agree with you totally about the fact that there wasn't any injustice in this case brought about by the fact that the victim was an escort. His sentence probably would have been the same if the victim was an RN, or a lawyer, or whatever. To be perfectly honest, within the context of Canada's justice system, the Judge in this case gave a very appropriate sentence, which is often not the case when the victim is an escort. For myself, I'm not really complaining about the Judge's decision, I'm complaining about sentencing in Canada in general.
 

smackyo

pimp supreme
May 18, 2005
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Even though they should have strung the bastard up, 13 years before parole is pretty tough in Canada as of late, much better than most sentences, but nowhere near enough, as she got life

Hopefully, he'll have a rather nasty evening each and every one of those 13 years
i was going to say the exact thing. based on some of the other insane and improbable judgments and sentencing as of late.

what the hell do you have to do in this country to be convicted of murder 1!? do you have to be a jeffery dahmer or something? is that the only way?
 

Pantherdash

Panther
Apr 2, 2007
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what the hell do you have to do in this country to be convicted of murder 1!? do you have to be a jeffery dahmer or something? is that the only way?
I don't even think Dahmer would've been convicted for murder 1, at least not in Canada as he was insane and his murders were not planned and premeditated. It's not the severity of the crime or how brutal it was that makes it a murder 1.

Crown Council in Canada must prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the murder was planned and premeditated. Things like a contract killing, a letter, a few threats, a telephone conversation recorded by police that shows the parties conspired to murder, etc. If this can't be proved, the usually go for the less severe, 2nd degree murder or even manslaughter.:confused: Downgrading the charge usually gets them a conviction. Especially in the Western provinces, Crown councillors will not take a case unless it's a slam dunk in court. It's a money issue.:rolleyes:

What you, me and everyone else wants here is blood drawn from this turd for what he did. That doesn't necessarily make it murder 1.

Panther
 
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