WINNIPEG — Thomas Brine has been found guilty of first degree murder in the killing of 73-year-old Elizabeth Lafantaisie Wednesday afternoon.
The jury deliberated for just 2.5 hours before rendering their verdict.
“We’re so happy that there has been justice for my mother,” Lise Gosselin, one of Lafantaisie’s daughters told media after the verdict was announced.
The jury of nine men and three women sat through five days of testimony and heard closing arguments on Tuesday. They started deliberations Wednesday and decided the verdict by 3 p.m. the same day.
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When the verdict was read both families were in tears while Brine showed no reaction.
“It won’t bring her back but at least we can end this and go on with our lives,” Anna Maynard, Lafantaisie’s other daughter said outside court.
Brine will be formally sentenced on Thursday.
WATCH: Global’s Sean Leslie breaks down the trial and shows excerpts of the nearly seven hour long interrogation of Brine
The Winnipeg grandmother disappeared five years ago this month and was found dead days later in the trunk of her car. It was later revealed that Lafantaisie was beaten, brutally sexually assaulted and strangled to death inside the Summerland Apartment Parkade on February 18, 2011.
“My mother was a beautiful, beautiful person. She had a huge heart, she loved everyone,” Gosselin said.
29-year-old Brine was later arrested and in a police interview he admitted to stealing Lafantaisie’s car from her apartment parkade on Adamar Road just off Pembina Highway, saying the car was running.
READ MORE: Jury to begin deliberations in Winnipeg grandmother murder case
He admitted to driving the stolen car to Summerland parkade. That’s where he claims he found Lafantaisie’s lifeless body in the trunk.
READ MORE: Suspect in Winnipeg grandmother’s murder admits to being in parkades around her murder
Brine also admitted to panicking, doing crack cocaine, driving to a car wash to get rid of his fingerprints, and then abandoning the car in Osborne Village.