CALGARY — The Crown is calling for a sentence of up to 15 years for a Calgary man who strangled his wife and buried her body in their basement.
In May, a judge found Allan Shyback guilty of manslaughter in the 2012 death of his wife Lisa Mitchell in the couple's Calgary home.
At a sentencing hearing today, Crown prosecutor Jayme Williams asked that Shyback, who is 40, serve 10 years for manslaughter and additional time for causing an indignity to a human body.
Shyback was arrested a year after Mitchell disappeared and confessed to police in an undercover operation.
The victim's sister-in-law, Sarah Mitchell, told court that Lisa Mitchell was stolen from the family because of Shyback and said he made her want to "throw up."
Mitchell's mother told the hearing her grandchildren have lost both their parents.
"They think Mom is in heaven and dad is with police," Peggy Mitchell said.
During the trial, Shyback testified he had been the victim of domestic abuse for nearly a decade and that Mitchell had attacked him with a knife the day she was killed.
Justice Rosemary Nation ruled the force Shyback used to fend off Mitchell, who was 31, was only reasonable until the couple fell to the ground.
Once Mitchell was overpowered and the knife was out of her hand, however, Shyback used "force that was more than necessary,'' the judge ruled.
Shyback said he panicked after he discovered Mitchell was dead and was afraid to call the police. An undercover police operation started in 2013 and ended with Shyback's confession and arrest in Winnipeg.
Shyback was also found guilty of causing an indignity to a body for putting Mitchell's remains in a Rubbermaid container and cementing it into a wall in the basement of their home.
The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life in prison. The maximum for indignity to a human body is five years.
