The jury has decided Neil Snelson is guilty of manslaughter but not the charge of the first degree murder of Jennifer Cusworth as was sought by the Crown.
According to Section 236 of the Criminal Code of Canada, sentencing for manslaughter could range from four years to life behind bars.
There is no word on a date for sentencing.
Cusworth was murdered 18 years ago following a house party in Kelowna; her body was found in a ditch near Swamp Road.
The Kelowna college student was clubbed to death.
Snelson and Cusworth were both at the house party on Richter Street in 1993, and while he admitted to having sex with her the night she disappeared, he denies killing her.
In 2009, after police pinpointed Snelson as a potential suspect in the case, he was very careful not to leave any of his DNA where police might recover it.
Police later got a sample of Snelson’s DNA through a court order; his DNA matched the semen found inside Cusworth’s body.
During the trial, Katherin Oystryk, Snelson’s ex-wife, also testified Snelson was familiar with the secluded back road where Cusowrth’s body was found.
The six men, six women jury have been deliberating since Monday.
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