A woman in her 60s convicted of stabbing her friend and heroin dealer 21 times in a Burnaby apartment will spend at least the next 11 years behind bars.
A jury in B.C. Supreme Court found Trudy Gail Hunter guilty of second degree murder in the death of Christina Docherty and on Wednesday, a judge decided she wouldn’t be eligible for parole during her life sentence for 11 years.
The Crown was seeking a 12.5-year minimum, while her lawyer was asking for 10 years, the same recommendation as the jury.
The Court heard that Hunter and Docherty, who were both 60 at the time of the murder, were good friends, and that Hunter had purchased heroin from the victim in her Burnaby apartment for years.
On Nov. 30, 2013, Hunter was in Docherty’s apartment when she stabbed her 21 times with kitchen steak knife. The victim’s body was found two days later by her daughter.
During the trial, which spanned several weeks in January and February, Crown argued Hunter went over to Docherty’s apartment to steal heroin and money. Hunter, meanwhile, she testified a fight broke out after an argument, and it was Docherty who had come at her with a knife.
Hunter wasn’t arrested and charged until April of 2014. At the time, court heard she denied killing Docherty, arguing she had no reason to kill her friend, adding she couldn’t have done it because of a right arm injury. Hunter claimed it was another customer who had attacked Docherty, and she didn’t know she died. A fingerprint and foot print indicated Hunter was at the home, however, and the Crown’s case suggested she tried to remove evidence by wiping a number of areas in the apartment covered in blood, throwing away the knife.
In reading her sentence, Justice Heather Holmes also detailed the murder, noting the wound that killed Docherty was directly to the heart, also pointing out she had her throat slashed between five and 10 times.
She said the “disturbing” feature of the attack required Hunter’s parole to be set beyond the 10-year minimum.
Holmes noted the affect the murder has had on the community, and specifically on Docherty’s daughter, who can’t be identified due to a publication ban.
“It’s not difficult to understand the pain she felt finding her mother’s body,” Holmes said, noting the daughter now has to live without the assistance of her mother.
The judge also said Hunter had not had an “easy life” and showed “extreme remorse” for the murder. Holmes said, apart from Hunter’s heroin addiction, Hunter had been a contributing member of society, having two kids of her own.
Holmes explained Hunter had a heroin addiction in her late teens, but had kicked the drug until a workplace injury years later.
She was prescribed OxyContin for pain, but turned to heroin by 2005 because it was less expensive.
After the sentencing, Crown counsel Geordie Proulx said he was pleased with the judge’s reasons and reflected on the case.
“I don’t want to say it’s sad, but it’s just what sometimes happens,” he said, suggesting the potential consequences of drug use.
However, Proulx also said not all heroin addicts are violent, calling the level of violence in Docherty’s murder “inexplicable.”
“It was a strange aspect of this trial,” he said.
