N.S. man who murdered girlfriend sentenced to life in prison, no parole eligibility for 11 years

WARNING: This story contains disturbing details. Discretion is advised.

A Nova Scotia man who murdered his girlfriend in an act of domestic violence in April 2020 was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday, with no parole eligibility for 11 years.

Stephen Alexander Beckett, 48, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in February. While second-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence, the parole ineligibility range is a minimum of 10 years to a maximum of 25 years.

In addition to his sentence, he will have to submit a DNA sample and is subject to a weapons prohibition for 15 years.

Police were called to a home on Glen Arbour Way in Hammonds Plains, N.S., during the afternoon of April 2, 2020.

A woman, 35-year-old Tracy MacKenzie, was found dead inside the home and Beckett, then 45, was arrested at the scene.

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According to an agreed statement of facts read in court by Crown attorney Melanie Perry, Beckett himself called 911 that day, saying “someone needed to come arrest him as he had killed his girlfriend.”

Beckett claimed his girlfriend was cheating on him with a drug dealer and he killed her during an argument.

Police found a “large amount of blood” and MacKenzie dead on the kitchen floor, covered in multiple stab wounds.

The court heard she suffered 10 stab wounds to her shoulder, neck, back and thorax, as well as defensive wounds on her wrists and hands.

Domestic violence ‘extremely aggravating’

The Crown and defence made a joint parole ineligibility recommendation of 11 years, which the judge accepted.

Perry said the fact that Beckett accepted responsibility right away for MacKenzie’s murder was a mitigating factor.

“This was not a situation where the police ever had to wonder who killed Tracy MacKenzie,” she said, adding that Beckett also demonstrated remorse.

Though Beckett had a criminal record, the offences were driving- and drug-related, and he has no priors involving violence.

However, aggravating factors included the “brutal” nature of the murder itself, which Perry said “clearly was a crime of domestic violence.”

“The one person that Ms. MacKenzie should have been able to trust in her own home was Mr. Beckett, and it certainly did not end well for her,” Perry said. “And so that is extremely aggravating.”

Members of MacKenzie’s family were in the courtroom Tuesday but did not submit victim impact statements.

Beckett apologized during his sentencing hearing, calling the situation a “major tragedy.”

“For my actions, I am truly and heartfeltly sorry, and I express my sympathy to all those who have been in any way negatively affected by this tragic loss,” he said.

‘Her life mattered’

In her decision, Justice Christa M. Brothers agreed that intimate partner violence was an aggravating factor.

“She had every right to be able to trust him and trust that he would not hurt her,” she said.

Brothers also took note of Beckett’s pre-sentence report, which found he had a good relationship with his parents. He has also been diagnosed with depression and ADHD, and struggled with a cocaine addiction for eight years prior to the murder.

She said that while Beckett’s parole ineligibility is set for 11 years, that does not mean he will be released at that point, as that decision will be up to the parole board. Beckett will also receive a remand credit of 1,140 days for time spent in custody.

Brothers told MacKenzie’s family that she realizes the decision will come as a “cold comfort.”

The judge said she does not know much about MacKenzie because there were no victim impact statements submitted, “but I do know this: her life mattered.”

“She will not have the opportunity to realize whatever goals and dreams she may have had,” Brothers said. “At 35 years of age, she certainly had a lot of life left to live.”