Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
National

Young N.B. Mom Marissa Shephard Jailed For Life In Murder Of Teenager Stabbed 200 Times

The Canadian Press, 22 Jun, 2018 04:07 PM
    MONCTON, N.B. — In a case that captured attention across the East Coast, a young mother has been sentenced to life in prison in the slaying of a Moncton, N.B., teen who had been stabbed about 200 times.
     
     
    Marissa Shephard, who is in her early 20s, will have no chance of parole for 25 years, Judge Zoel Dionne ruled Friday.
     
     
    She was found guilty last month of first-degree murder and arson in the 2015 death of 18-year-old Baylee Wylie. He had been tied to a chair, beaten and stabbed repeatedly.
     
     
    Shephard became a fugitive following the murder, and police asked the public to take a closer look at her many photos on social media, saying she had an uncanny knack for changing her appearance.
     
     
    Some online photos showed her posing with a gun. Others posted by friends and family variously depict Shephard in pouting glamour poses, as a content mother of a young boy, as a haggard suspect and as a wannabe gangster.
     
     
     
    Police said Shephard was considered dangerous due to the violent nature of the crime. She was arrested outside a Moncton hotel on March 1, 2016, and has been in custody ever since.
     
     
    A Court of Queen's Bench jury only needed about four hours to find Shephard guilty in May. She was the third person convicted in the murder.
     
     
     
     
    Wylie's body was found in Shephard's burned-out Moncton townhouse on Dec. 17, 2015. It was found in the middle of the living room floor, with a box spring on top of it, with numerous injuries on his neck, torso, legs and arms.
     
     
    Defence lawyer Gilles Lemieux said he told the court Friday that "four young lives have been ruined as the result of drugs and that whole lifestyle."
     
     
    "It was a bunch of bad choices. It's just bad all around and never should have happened," he said in an interview.
     
     
    Shephard was also sentenced to three years for the arson, minus time served. That sentence is to be served concurrently.
     
     
    Lemieux said he expects there will be an appeal.
     
     
    "I've suggested to my client that she do that, for sure," he said.
     
     
    An appeal would have to be filed within the next 30 days.  
     
     
    Twenty-one-year-old Devin Morningstar was found guilty of the same charges in November 2016 and is serving a life sentence.
     
     
    Another man, 20-year-old Tyler Noel, pleaded guilty in May 2017 to second-degree murder and arson with disrespect for human life and was also given a life sentence.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    I Didn't Consent, Woman Tells Court Martial Of Halifax Military Cop

    HALIFAX — A military officer has told a Halifax court martial she did not consent to sex with a military policeman charged with sexual assault.

    I Didn't Consent, Woman Tells Court Martial Of Halifax Military Cop

    Toronto Police Allege 57-Year-Old Man Pushed Another Man To His Death

    Toronto police say a 57-year-old man faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of a man who was apparently pushed in front of a train at one of the city's busiest subway stations Monday morning.

    Toronto Police Allege 57-Year-Old Man Pushed Another Man To His Death

    Global Refugee Numbers Reach New High, U.S. And Canada Take In Record Numbers

    Global Refugee Numbers Reach New High, U.S. And Canada Take In Record Numbers
      The annual Global Trends report from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees shows the world total of displaced people was 68.5 million last year.

    Global Refugee Numbers Reach New High, U.S. And Canada Take In Record Numbers

    Opioid Death Toll Nearly 4,000 Last Year, New Data Shows

    Opioid Death Toll Nearly 4,000 Last Year, New Data Shows
    New government figures show that nearly 4,000 Canadians died from apparent opioid overdoses last year, with men the most likely victims and fentanyl the clear culprit.

    Opioid Death Toll Nearly 4,000 Last Year, New Data Shows

    Body Of Missing PhD Student Zabia Afzal Found In Lake Ontario In Niagara Region

    Body Of Missing PhD Student Zabia Afzal Found In Lake Ontario In Niagara Region
    VAUGHAN, Ont. — Police say a Toronto-area PhD student who went missing last month has been found dead in the Niagara region.

    Body Of Missing PhD Student Zabia Afzal Found In Lake Ontario In Niagara Region

    Police Identify Two Men Wanted In Toronto Playground Shooting

    Police Identify Two Men Wanted In Toronto Playground Shooting
    TORONTO — Police have identified two men wanted in connection with a daylight shooting at a Toronto playground that sent two young sisters to hospital.

    Police Identify Two Men Wanted In Toronto Playground Shooting