The Washington state man convicted of killing a former Burnaby woman and her husband has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
John Reed was found guilty in May on one count each of aggravated first-degree murder and second-degree murder in the slayings.
The sentence came down for the Oso resident two years after he shot and killed his former neighbours, Monique Patenaude and Patrick Shunn.
Officials say the couple had previously complained to police after John Reed threatened them over a property dispute.
The court heard that on April 11, 2016 Patenaude returned home from running errands and was shot three times. Shunn was shot in the head later that day.
The couple’s bodies were eventually found buried in a remote forest clearing near their Washington home.
In the wake of the killings, Reed and his brother Tony fled the state.
Tony Reed eventually turned himself in, and led investigators to the couple’s grave. He was later sentenced to 14 months in jail for his role in the murders.
John Reed was captured by police in Sonora, Mexico in July, 2016 and returned to the United States for trial.
The slain couple lived on a 21-acre riverfront property next to the area where a massive landslide wiped out three dozen homes in 2014. Their property shared a gated driveway with John Reed.
Shunn was was a former Army Ranger, who worked for a company that refurbishes aircraft interiors. Patenaude had moved to Washington from B.C., and worked at an organization that provides services to disabled adults.
- With files from the Associated Press
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