'Till death do us part,' Alberta woman tells undercover cop she hired to kill husband

When Audra Lynne Symbalisty used the phrase "till death do us part," she was in a gas station parking lot in Carstairs, Alta., about an hour's drive north of Calgary, trying to hire a hit man to kill her husband on the couple's 18th wedding anniversary. 

Audra Symbalisty wanted to "part" with her husband by arranging for his death, but she had no idea she'd engaged an undercover police officer, not a hit man-for-hire.

On Monday, Symbalisty pleaded guilty to counselling an undercover police officer to commit the murder of her spouse, Don Symbalisty.

The 60-year-old grandmother sat in the prisoner's box in a navy blue jail-issued sweatsuit, with her greying blonde hair piled on top of her head. 

'What you've done to your family'

Court of King's Bench Justice Michele Hollins accepted a joint submission for a five-year prison sentence. With credit for the time she has already served, Symbalisty has about three and a half years left on her sentence. 

In handing down the sentence, Hollins addressed Symbalisty directly. 

"Part of your healing, I expect, will be coming face to face with what you've done to your family," said the judge. 

Details of the crime were read aloud in court from an agreed statement of facts (ASF) prepared by prosecutors Elaine Ng and Ryan Ziegler and defence lawyer Allan Fay. 

Justice Hollins heard that in 2021, Don Symbalisty purchased a life insurance policy which would have paid his wife nearly $500,000 in the event of his death. 

Acquaintance goes to RCMP 

Don was a long-haul trucker who frequently drove between Canada and the U.S. for work. 

By early 2024, the couple's relationship had deteriorated and "the two were inattentive and verbally abusive to one another," according to the ASF.

Over a six-week period in early 2024, Audra Symbalisty had several conversations about her husband with an acquaintance who took his concerns to Didsbury RCMP on Feb. 12, 2024.

His statement to police led to a two-and-a-half week investigation involving an undercover police officer (UCO) posing as a contract killer who was introduced to Audra over text message.

The two made a plan to meet in Carstairs on Feb. 24, 2024.

Facebook anniversary post

That day was the Symbalisty's 18th wedding anniversary and Audra posted to Facebook: "18 years. So hard to believe. Happy Anniversary Hon. Can't wait for our beautiful supper date. Whoot whoot."

Meanwhile, she was in a gas station parking lot, offering an undercover officer $5,000 to kill her husband. 

During the meet-up, Symbalisty told the UCO her husband was "a problem" who she wanted "gone."

"She did not want 'anything temporary,' 'any hospital stuff,' or 'any broken legs' — she wanted it to be 'just permanent,'" reads the ASF.

Symbalisty confirmed she wanted to hire a "hit man."

"I've watched lots of different movies, like where you hire people as a hit man and different things like that," she told the UCO. 

She expressed that she did not want the killing to happen at the family home and told the UCO that she didn't want him to share too many details of the planned killing.

"The first person that's going to get questioned and shit is me," she told the officer. "I don't want to know anything about anything. Everything will be a surprise."

'The murder machine'

In the course of the conversation, Symbalisty gave her husband's name, occupation and outlined his trucking travel routes in order to help facilitate the murder.

The two met again the next day, this time in the Olds Canadian Tire parking lot. Symbalisty handed over $1,000 in cash — an agreed-upon 20 per cent deposit — as well as photos of her husband and his truck, "so he would know with certainty who to kill," according to the ASF. 

She told the UCO she wanted Don's death to look accidental or self-inflicted and that she wanted the killing to become a cold-case murder. 

The UCO told Symbalisty that once he received the money for the contract killing "the murder machine was going" and he would either "put a bullet" in the victim's head or "run him over."

Symbalisty replied, "got it."

He gave her several chances to back out, but each time Symbalisty confirmed she wanted him to carry out the plan. 

'A fractured marriage'

Three days later, Symbalisty was arrested and charged by RCMP and has been in custody since her arrest. 

Before her arrest, Audra Symbalisty was a hairdresser in Carstairs and also sold homeopathic products.

The former couple had a blended family of adult children. 

While the exact motive can't be proven by the Crown, Fay noted that after Symbalisty's 39-year-old daughter died following a struggle with addictions, "a fractured marriage became even more fractured."

Audra built a mantelpiece memorial for her daughter which "elicited unkind comments from Mr. Symbalisty," Fay told the court.

"She appreciates that what she did was wrong to its very core … and unforgivable," said Fay. "She accepts she must bear the consequences of that."

'My brain hijacked me'

When given the chance to address the court, Symbalisty said she'd been "suffering in my own silence" and "did something I never thought I would do."

"It was like my brain hijacked me," she said. "I wish I could go back in time."

Symbalisty's two daughters wrote victim impact statements detailing their devastation. 

Daughter Shayna Anisman described her world "crashing" and her family "disintegrating."

Pregnant at the time of her mother's arrest, Anisman said "she threw away our whole world and for what."

'Goodbye, Audra'

Daughter Katrina Lisoway listed some of the questions she's been left to ponder. 

"Did you really think you were so smart you would outsmart the system and get away with this?" she asked her mother. 

"How and why could a mother, a grandmother, be so selfish and be so willing to sacrifice everything?" 

Don Symbalisty was not in court for his former spouse's plea but he wrote a statement which was read aloud by the prosecution. 

Don wrote that while he had "mixed emotions" and felt "betrayed at the highest level" he also said he forgives Audra. 

"I realized in these circumstances I do not know what Audra is capable of," wrote Don. 

"It's finished. Goodbye, Audra."