'There's a lot of hope for justice': Christine Wood's killer faces sentencing
CBC News | Posted: July 2, 2019 11:00 AM | Last Updated: July 2, 2019
Brett Overby convicted of second-degree murder in May
The parents of a young Manitoba woman who was brutally killed are filled with mixed emotions as they prepare to see the man convicted of murdering her sentenced, a family advocate says.
Brett Overby is due back in the Court of Queen's Bench for a sentencing hearing Tuesday, after a jury found him guilty in early May for the August 2016 murder of Christine Wood, 21.
"There's a lot of hope for justice, that the perpetrator will receive the maximum sentence," said Hilda Anderson-Pyrz.
"At the same time, they're looking forward to their healing journey."
Anderson-Pyrz is the manager of the murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls liaison unit for Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO). She assisted Christine's parents, George and Melinda Wood, through the trial.
Overby faces a mandatory life sentence for second-degree murder. The key issue will be when he will become eligible for parole. The minimum is after 10 years, but the court could impose an ineligibility period of up to 25 years.
Tuesday's hearing is expected to last a full day before Court of Queen's Bench Justice Chris Martin, who heard the trial.
'They want to honour her memory'
Anderson-Pyrz couldn't say if Christine's parents plan to read their victim impact statements aloud in court, but said that they do want to find a way to "honour her memory and keep her memory alive."
Their "close-knit" community has pulled together to try and help George and Melinda, she said.
"They really feel the loss, such a tragic loss."
Christine's parents last saw her in Winnipeg on Aug. 19, 2016. She met Overby that evening on the online dating website Plenty of Fish.
During his trial, which began April 30, Overby admitted to killing Wood in his basement on Burrows Avenue and burying her body in a farmer's field. Wood's remains weren't found until June 2017, almost two months after Overby was charged.
He told the jury he covered up the crime and lied to everyone, including police, about his connection to Wood and the circumstances around her death.
His defence lawyers argued that Wood was the aggressor and Overby should be found guilty of manslaughter.
Overby said he'd been drinking with Christine on the night of Aug. 19, and that she became aggressive and attacked him with a knife, at which point he blacked out. When he came to, she was lying in a pool of blood, Overby testified. The jury rejected his explanation.
Going forward, Anderson-Pyrz said Christine's home community of Bunibonibee Cree Nation, also known as Oxford House, wants there to be more of a focus on Christine's legacy, not Overby's conduct.
"If the focus is on him, it's like taking away from the beautiful, young, Indigenous woman that Christine was," she said.
"If the focus is on him, it's like taking away from the beautiful, young, Indigenous woman that Christine was," she said.