By The Canadian Press

Court

Manitoba man charged after death of Wabasca woman handed 11-year sentence

Sep 22, 2022 | 5:05 PM

PEACE RIVER, Alta. – A man has been sentenced to 11 years for killing an Indigenous woman in northern Alberta and later moving her body to Manitoba.

Grant Sneesby, who is 72, stabbed Gloria Gladue multiple times in October 2015, before destroying her cellphone, burning her clothes, wrapping her body in plastic and storing it in a trailer on his property in Wabasca-Desmarais,

At his trial, court heard that at some point Sneesby transported the body of the 44-year-old woman to his property in Manitoba, where it was found by RCMP more than two years later.

In June, a jury convicted Sneesby of manslaughter instead of the initial charge of second-degree murder.

He had pleaded guilty to causing indignity to Gladue’s remains, but maintained he killed her in self-defence.

During his sentencing today in Peace River, Alta., Justice Paul Belzil called the killing callous and brutal, saying that Gladue’s life was senselessly ended by Sneesby.

Sneesby was credited seven years, leaving him three years and 221 days left to serve.

(The Canadian Press)