Kevin Rubletz has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 17 years for the second-degree murder of Calgary mother Jessica Newman.
Family and friends of Newman wept during the sentencing hearing when two victim impact statements were read on Thursday.
A jury convicted Rubletz of second-degree murder in November 2017.
READ MORE: Ex-boyfriend found guilty in Calgary mother Jessica Newman’s death
Newman’s mother, Rhonda Stewart, had her words read by Crown prosecutor Shane Parker.
“I miss her laugh,” Stewart wrote.
“I miss it so much, my body aches for it.”
Stewart said Rubletz shattered the people who loved Newman: “He took so much from so many.”
“The world needed more people like Jessica…instead the world has one less.”
Rubletz automatically faced a life sentence with no chance of parole for a minimum of 10 years.
The prosecution had suggested he serve at least 17 years before he could apply for parole. Defence had argued a range of 12 to 15 years was appropriate.
Newman and Rubletz shared a child and were in the midst of a custody battle. Newman disappeared March 10, 2015–the night before an important custody hearing.
The 24-year-old was never seen or heard from again.
It was nearly two months later that Newman’s body was found in a ditch northeast of Calgary.
An autopsy revealed she was stabbed 75 times. Her body was partially clothed.
During the trial, court heard Newman’s DNA was found in Rubletz’s van, which was taken to an auto wrecker.
Parker said a search of the van showed “a botched cleanup.” Areas of the front driver and passenger seats were cut out.
Watch below from Nov. 6: Calgary mother Jessica Newman died in a “crime of passion.” That was the Crown’s theory in the case against Kevin Rubletz. Nancy Hixt reports.
Parker told court Thursday that Rubletz “took positive steps for months to very successfully lie.”
In Stewart’s victim impact statement, she stated she didn’t trust Rubletz and told her daughter that. She asked herself: “Would she be alive if I were more persistent?”
“I hate that Kevin knew where Jessica was the entire time, yet chose to never let us know,” she said.
Stewart also wrote of the impact on Newman’s three sons, who have lost their mother; and her brothers, who miss their sister.
A second victim impact statement was read in court by Newman’s aunt, Des Miller.
“You have taken a valuable part of our family,” she told Rubletz. “I hope today justice is served and Jessica is honoured.”
“Jessica wasn’t perfect but she was perfectly Jessica.”
Rubletz was arrested June 26, 2015. He’s been in custody ever since.