A man who killed his common-law wife in their home in 2009 has been granted parole.
James Urbaniak served 10 years of his life sentence, according to the Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation (JMMF).
"I think that the ten years in jail is just not enough to send a message out there to the public that this is not acceptable," JMMF Executive Director Janice Isberg told CTV News Edmonton. "It's not tolerable to beat your wife."
“We, as a family, are determined to move forward despite this outcome," Lynne Rosychuk, Jessica’s mother, the founder and president of the JMMF said in a statement. "We will no longer allow his actions to define our family, to prevent healing, or to not experience the joys that comes with a life well lived.”
Rosychuk and a group of volunteers established the Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation in 2012.
The foundation provides public education on domestic violence and supports survivors.
In September 2018, they broke ground on Jessie's House, a first stage emergency shelter in Sturgeon County. It is scheduled to open in January 2020.
Urbaniak was charged with second-degree murder after Jessica Martel was found dead in their Morinville home in April 2009.
The agreed statement of facts stated Martel was planning on leaving Urbaniak in late April. In response, he beat her, stabbed her and strangled her. Martel's three children, all under the age of seven, were home at the time.
He pleaded guilty in 2010 and received a life sentence.
A board member with the foundation was present at the Parole Board hearing. According to JMMF, Urbaniak's parole conditions include three months of unsupervised weekend release followed by time at a halfway house.
