A Brampton man was found guilty on Tuesday in the death of a woman who was raped and murdered in her apartment three years ago.
Christopher Hurd was found guilty of first-degree murder after a jury deliberated for seven hours. Hurd was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Loretta Lavalley died from injuries she suffered from a sexual assault in November 2008. Hurd had claimed he was too drunk and high on hallucinogenic magic mushrooms to have intended to kill her.
The verdict came as little comfort for the members of Lavalley's family who were present in the courtroom on Tuesday.
Angela Anwhatin, the victim's sister, said it would be hard to think about not hearing Lavalley's voice anymore.
Lavalley's niece cried when she told reporters that she was supposed to be meeting the victim for the first time in 14 years on the weekend that Lavalley was killed.
Part of the savage attack on Lavalley, 36, was captured in a 911 call placed shortly before she was killed in her Brampton apartment. The call stretched on for 19 minutes, during which a dispatcher could hear as she was attacked, raped and strangled to death.
Hurd was arrested when police found him naked inside the apartment. He admitted to sexually assaulting Lavalley while her hands were tied behind her back, but said he was incapable of understanding what he was doing.
The Crown argued that Hurd intentionally killed Lavalley to avoid being identified as the attacker.
With files from CTV's Austin Delaney.
