A Wallaceburg woman has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for the murder of a Dover Township man.
However, Kourtny Audette will only spend two more years and eight months behind bars after being given credit for time already served.
Audette pleaded guilty to manslaughter in August for killing 24-year-old Nick Laprise almost four years ago. She was originally charged with first-degree murder. The maximum sentence for manslaughter is life in prison.
The sentence from The Honourable Justice Paul Kowalyshyn came down on Thursday, Audette's 29th birthday.
In passing sentence, Justice Kowalyshyn cited Audette's lack of a previous criminal record, the fact that she is a single mother and suffers from a mental disorder, which was contributing factor at the time of the crime. He also said she spared the Laprise family a gut-wrenching and lengthy trial by pleading guilty, was intoxicated at the time of the offence, has the support from her parents and friends, and has participated in many programs to better herself while in jail in Windsor.
However, Kowalyshyn also took issue with Audette not helping Laprise or calling for help after stabbing him, instead calling her father, who dialed 911. Kowalyshyn said Audette used a hidden large hunting knife to stab a naked and unarmed Laprise in the chest in the most extreme way possible, calling it "violent" and "a tragedy waiting to happen." He said he understands that sex workers are vulnerable but could not accept self-defence as an argument in this case.
"There was no additional evidence of provocation, self-defence or extenuating circumstances that would serve to further justify or mitigate the unlawful act," said Justice Kowalyshyn. "This offence at its core was a business transaction entered into by two consenting adults for sex for hire that one party decided they did not want to proceed with. That decision did not warrant the taking of a life."
Crown Attorney Rob MacDonald was asking for a 10-year penitentiary sentence and a lifetime ban on weapons for Audette. MacDonald called the crime a “deliberate act of violence” on a defenceless man.
Audette's defence lawyer, Laura Joy, was asking for a suspended sentence and three years probation.
Audette also has to submit a DNA sample and is prohibited from possessing weapons for the rest of her life.