12 years for Quigley

UPDATE: 12:45 p.m.

Ryan Quigley has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for the March 2014 killing of his ex-fiancee, Aimee Parkes.

Justice Alison Beames delivered the manslaughter sentence Friday afternoon, sticking to the joint recommendation from Crown and defence lawyers.

"(Parkes) was clearly a wonderful person," said Justice Beames. "She was described as kind, caring, polite, respectful and warm.

"She was a contributing and important member of society and a beloved, appreciated and respected member of her family and her circle of friends."

Quigley received 31 months credit for time served, meaning he'll spend another nine years and five months behind bars.

Quigley has also been banned for life from possessing weapons.

He stabbed Parkes 26 times in the head, neck and torso. 

"You've committed an unspeakable crime that has wounded many people," Justice Beames said to Quigley after sentencing. "You will honour the memory of Ms. Parkes if you do everything within your power to rehabilitate yourself, to treat and constantly maintain your mental health and stay as far away as you can from a drug that is the source of so much tragedy in our society."

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UPDATE: 11:45 a.m.

Crown counsel and defence submitted a joint submission for Ryan Quigley's sentencing Friday morning, recommending Justice Alison Beames hand down a sentence of 12 years for stabbing his ex-fiance to death.

While originally charged with second-degree murder, Quigley pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Wednesday, which the Crown accepted.

Last month, Crown prosecutor Colin Forsyth had denied the plea at the start of the trial. He said Friday the psychology report on Quigley, which he received in the first week of trial, helped convince him to accept the lesser charge.

Twelve years is at the high end of sentencing for a manslaughter charge, but Forsyth said Quigley's case was “near murder” and he held a high degree of moral culpability in Aimee Parkes' death.

Parkes was stabbed 26 times to the head, neck and torso. Based on a lack of defensive wounds, Forsyth said she "had no warning about what was about to befall her and no chance to defend herself from the attack."

Forsyth said the pathologist's evidence suggests Parkes could have been alive for "several minutes to several hours," following the attack, but Quigley made no attempt to call 911. He did drag her body to a bedroom, propped her head up on a pillow and provided her with a bottle of water and a straw.

"The two major wounds ... were such that if she had received proper medical attention, she most likely, almost certainly, would have lived," Forsyth said.

Just hours after Quigley stabbed Parkes, he had pawned her Pandora bracelet, her most prized possession that her mother had given her, for drug money.

The bracelet contained several charms that Parkes had collected on trips with her mother. 

Days later, he tried to sell Parkes' vehicle as well to support his crack cocaine addiction.

Quigley's defence lawyer Kevin McCullough admitted his client's post-offence behaviour was “outrageous,” and Parkes' dozens of family members in court appeared to agree, gasping when hearing of Quigley's thefts.

Quigley served just over 20 months in jail before he was let out on bail, giving him 30 months credit for time served, at the standard 1.5 times credit for jail time served before a verdict.

If Justice Beames agrees with the Crown and defence's joint submission, Quigley will serve an additional 9.5 years.

Justice Beames will be back in court just after 12 p.m. Friday to hand down her sentence. 

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ORIGINAL: 8:58 a.m.

Ryan Quigley's four-week trial comes to a close today, as he faces sentencing in the stabbing death of his former girlfriend, Aimee Parkes.

Quigley surprised the court on Wednesday when, three and a half weeks into his second-degree murder trial, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in a joint submission with Crown counsel.

He had attempted to plead guilty to manslaughter at the beginning of the trial, but prosecutors rejected the plea, pushing forward with second-degree murder charges.

Quigley and Parkes had been engaged, but Parkes decided to call the wedding off due to Quigley's drug addiction issues.

The night Quigley stabbed Parkes in the head, neck and torso 26 times, she had been attempting to have her locks changed at her home at the Hiawatha Mobile Home Park.

She had been trying to get Quigley to leave their shared home for several days.

After Quigley's guilty plea Wednesday, Parkes' father said he was extremely disappointed Quigley was not found guilty of second-degree murder, and hoped he would face a sentence at the high end of the manslaughter charge.

Manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail and no minimum sentence.

Quigley's sentencing begins at 10 a.m. Friday morning.