Stéphane Parent guilty of 2002 murder of girlfriend after 2-hour jury deliberation
Adrienne McColl died in February 2002 after she was strangled and her skull was fractured
After deliberating for just two hours, jurors have found Stéphane Parent guilty of murdering his girlfriend in 2002.
Once a cold case, Parent was arrested in Quebec in 2018 and flown back to Calgary to face his charge of second-degree murder.
Adrienne McColl was beaten and fatally strangled on Valentine's Day 2002.
Hours after she was killed, Parent drove to the airport, booked a one-way ticket to Ottawa and did not return until his arrest.
Three days after her violent death, McColl's body was discovered near Nanton in a ditch alongside a rural road.
Immediately after he was found guilty, Parent fired his lawyers and told the judge he will be asking a higher court overturn his conviction.
In 2002, Adrienne McColl was 21 years old. She'd been with Parent, who was 12 years her senior, for two years but things were rocky by February.
The couple was living separately after their baby was stillborn. They were broke but McColl had just landed a new job and was living with her stepfather, John McGee.
Parent was homeless after the car he'd been living in was towed.
Motivated by rage, says prosecutor
In his closing arguments to jurors, prosecutor Shane Parker said the murder was motivated by rage.
Parent's fingerprint was on one of the plastic garbage bags found with McColl's body.
Prosecutors Shane Parker and Matt Dalidowicz also presented evidence that a pair of Parent's jeans were found in the airport parking lot with McColl's DNA on the pant leg.
Court of Queen's Bench Justice Charlene Anderson thanked jurors for their service.
The judge will hear sentencing arguments at a later date.