Trucker sentenced to more than 12 years for manslaughter in woman's Edmonton hotel death

EDMONTON -

An Ontario trucker found guilty of killing a woman in his Edmonton hotel room in 2011 was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison on Tuesday. 

Bradley Barton, 53, was convicted in February in the manslaughter of Cindy Gladue, a 36-year-old Metis and Cree woman who died in his room at the Yellowhead Inn in June 2011.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Stephen Hillier ruled Barton had "an intolerable level of blameworthiness" in Gladue's death. 

"“No words can capture the tragedy and sorrow, particularly for the young family left suddenly without a mother.”

Barton has 11 years and 204 days (about seven months) remaining on the sentence with credit for time served. 

Justice Hillier noted Barton's "sustained deceits" in testifying, calling them "a series of lies" that were "an unyielding attempt to avoid responsibility for Ms. Gladue's death."

"His responses were simply unreliable distortions ... in attempts to rationalize his words and actions."

Barton is also subject to a mandatory DNA order, a weapons ban, and 20-year registration as a sex offender. 

Justice Hillier cited Barton's failure to help a bleeding Gladue, the deliberateness of his actions as well as his lies to police and hotel staff as aggravating factors in sentencing. 

At trial, the court heard that Gladue had four times the legal limit of alcohol in her system and bled to death from a severe wound in her vagina.

Barton testified he paid Gladue for sex and was shocked to find her bloody body in the bathtub the next morning.

Crown prosecutors asked that Barton be sentenced to 18 to 20 years in prison. Defence lawyer Dino Bottos argued for a sentence of between five and nine years for Barton.

Crown prosecutors argued Barton caused the fatal wound when he sexually assaulted Gladue.

Bottos argued Barton and Gladue had engaged in consensual sex acts.

"It's higher than what we thought Mr. Barton deserved," said Bottos of the sentence. 

"It's a lot closer to what we were seeking than what the Crown was seeking so we're grateful for that."

After sentencing, Gladue's mother told reporters she wished Barton would've acted sooner to save her daughter. 

"Maybe she would've been here today," McLeod said.

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples called the sentence "shockingly low." 

"The justice system, while arriving at the right verdict and retrial process, failed Cindy Gladue," reads a statement from the group. 

"She was revictimized by the court process as was her family and community."

The sentence follows the second trial for Barton, a long-haul truck driver from Mississauga, Ont.

In 2015, a jury found him not guilty of first-degree murder. The verdict led to calls for justice for Indigenous women.

"I'd like to thank everyone across Canada all over who support us," said McLeod.

"I'm glad to see this all over."