Neil George Snelson is charged with one count of manslaughter in the 1993 death of Jennifer Cusworth.
(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
September 10, 2015 - 8:30 AM
KAMLOOPS - A Kelowna man who killed a female party guest in 1993 is due back in court today, Sept. 10, to be sentenced for manslaughter.
In June, a Kamloops jury convicted Neil George Snelson of manslaughter in the death of Jennifer Cusworth. The 19-year-old's body was found in a ditch on Kelowna's Swamp Road the day after she attended a house party where Snelson was also a guest. The case went cold for 16 years before Snelson was arrested in 2009.
This is the second time Snelson was convicted of the crime. In 2011, a Kelowna jury found Snelson guilty of manslaughter and he was sentenced to 15 years in jail. He later won his appeal for a retrial in Kamloops. Snelson, who has been living in Lake Country since his bail release last year, will likely be sentenced to prison but the question is how long.
Depending on how much time the judge determines he has already served since his arrest in 2009, Snelson’s time in jail could be brief.
If Snelson gets the same sentence as before and his time spent in custody applies, he could be eligible for parole in approximately two years.
Manslaughter carries no minimum sentence.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Glynn Brothen at gbrothen@infonews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015