WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Alberta’s top court has dismissed a Crown appeal of the sentence handed to an Ontario truck driver convicted in the 2011 death of a woman found in an Edmonton hotel bathtub.
Cindy Gladue, a 36-year-old Métis and Cree woman, bled to death in the tub in 2011.
A jury found Bradley Barton not guilty in 2015 of first-degree murder, but the Alberta Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada ordered a new trial.
He was then convicted of manslaughter and handed a 12½ year sentence.
The Crown argued that sentence was “demonstrably unfit” and recommended 18 to 20 years, saying Gladue’s vulnerability as an Indigenous woman and the sexual nature of the offence should have been given more weight.
Three Appeal Court justices unanimously ruled the sentence was not so inadequate that it would justify interference.
“The panel recognizes that no sentence imposed will adequately address the pain inflicted on Ms. Gladue’s family and community,” the judges wrote in the decision published Friday.
“We recognize, too, that the legal proceedings have endured for more than a decade. With the disposition of this appeal, we hope that some measure of peace and healing can begin.”
In August, the Supreme Court declined to hear Barton’s appeal of his conviction.
Barton’s initial acquittal sparked rallies and calls for justice for Indigenous women across the country.
There was outrage because Gladue was repeatedly referred to as a “native” and a “prostitute” during the trial. Gladue’s partial remains were brought into the courtroom as evidence by prosecutors.
Court heard Barton, from Mississauga, Ont., hired Gladue for two nights of sex and she suffered a severe wound to her vagina.
Barton testified the sex was consensual and he was shocked when he woke the next morning to find her dead in the tub.
The Crown argued Barton performed a sex act on Gladue while she was passed out, causing the wound. Prosecutors said he dumped her in the tub and left her to bleed to death.
A jury in the second trial in 2021 convicted Barton of manslaughter.
Barton’s bid for a third trial was dismissed in January.