Gregory Houle guilty of manslaughter in partner's beating death
CBC News | Posted: December 18, 2013 8:46 PM | Last Updated: December 19, 2013
Cherry Ledesma was killed in her northeast Calgary home in 2011
Cherry Ledesma's common-law husband has been found guilty in her death.
A judge found Gregory Houle guilty of manslaughter Wednesday afternoon in his partner's 2011 death.
Ledesma's family says the trial was exhausting and they're glad to see it end.
"To be sitting in the same room as someone that killed my mom — it was painful. It took a lot out of all of our family," said her daughter Tia Ledesma.
Tia says the family misses her mom greatly.
"All people have their issues, but my mom was a beautiful person and she didn’t deserve to leave this world in the way she did."
Police found the body of Ledesma, 45, beaten and decomposing under a pile of laundry in the home the two shared with two roommates.
Police said at the time that they had been to the residence 37 times in the year leading up to her death.
Houle, who is in his late 40s, was originally charged with second-degree murder.