CALGARY - Justice Jim Eamon has handed 30-year-old Ross Arran McInnes a life sentence with 15 years of parole ineligibility for murdering a Bowden woman in 2021.
The sentence was handed down Monday after McInnes pleaded guilty earlier in the day to a charge of second-degree murder in the strangling death of Kirsten Gardner, also known as Kirsten O'Donoghue.
The plea came in Court of King's Bench in Calgary on the first day of McInnes' scheduled three-week jury trial.
According to a statement of agreed facts accepted by the court, McInnes admitted strangling Gardner in her Bowden residence on March 22, 2021 following an altercation.
McInnes and Gardner were in an on-again, off-again relationship, court heard.
"This was a cruel and senseless act," said Justice Eamon. "What was done to Kirsten Gardner was a heinous offence. This is a case of domestic violence."
Prior to sentencing, Justice Eamon asked McInnes if he had anything to say, to which the accused said, "Other than I'm sorry, nothing else."
McInnes showed no outward signs of emotion when he was sentenced.
He was also handed a lifetime firearm and ammunition ban and ordered to provide a DNA sample.
He originally faced a charge of first-degree murder, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder.