Lawyers have made their sentencing requests for a James Smith Cree Nation woman who was convicted of manslaughter in October.
Candace Moostoos was originally charged with murder in 70-year-old Alpheus Burns’ death in May of 2015, after she turned herself in. At that time she made a confession to police officers, saying she stabbed Burns multiples times in his Melfort apartment.
At trial, a jury found her guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
At Melfort’s Court of Queen’s Bench on Friday, Moostoos’ lawyer Mary McAuley submitted a request for a sentence of four years.
Crown prosecutor Tyla Olenchuk requested a sentence between eight and 10 years.
“From the Crown’s perspective this was a case where she knew and ought to have known that the injuries she inflicted were likely to cause death, specifically that they were life threatening. This wasn’t a case, for example, with a single stab wound,” she said over the phone on Friday.
“From our perspective that makes her more morally culpable.”
Olenchuk said, in her submission, “the fact that the victim was elderly and it occurred in his own home after he invited her in” was another aggravating factor.
Olenchuk also submitted two victim impact statements: one from Alpheus Burns’ sister Priscilla and one from his adopted sister Etheleen Paul.
The decision is set to be rendered on Jan. 16.
Defence lawyer Mary McAuley was not available for comment on Friday afternoon.
For past stories on the Candace Moostoos trial, follow this link: Jury finds Candace Moostoos guilty of manslaughter, not guilty of murder