Douglas Hales murdered Daleen Bosse and must serve life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years, a Saskatoon judge has ruled.
Hales — who was facing a first-degree murder charge — was found guilty Wednesday at Queen’s Bench court of second-degree murder and offering an indignity to a human body in the death of Bosse, a 25-year-old mother who was last seen in 2004 and whose body was found four years later in a rural, wooded area outside Saskatoon.
Justice Gerald Allbright handed Hales a 25-year sentence with no parole for 15 years.
Hales confessed to the murder as part of a so-called “Mr. Big sting” in which undercover RCMP officers investigating Bosse’s disappearance posed as members of a fake crime ring.
The crown argued throughout the trial that Hales strangled Bosse after meeting her at Jax nightclub where he worked, and then burned the body to cover up the evidence. The defence said Bosse died of alcohol poisoning.
Allbright said in his ruling Wednesday he was sure, beyond an unreasonable doubt, that Bosse either died by Hales strangling her or burning her. He did not believe she died of alcohol poisoning, he said.
Allbright was originally set to rule on the case in August, but a Supreme Court decision in July that set requirements for the admissibility of evidence obtained during Mr. Big stings stalled the decision.
The defence pushed for a mistrial and asked for the trial to be re-opened following the Supreme Court ruling, but Allbright dismissed both requests.
Allbright outlined the Supreme Court ruling as he read his verdict. He said the Mr. Big sting confession and evidence were admissible in Hales’ case.
