Woman sentenced to life in prison for murdering St. Albert senior in 2017

A woman found guilty of murdering the property manager of the building she lived in in St. Albert, Alta., in 2017 has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

A judge delivered the sentence for Beryl Musila, a 34-year-old mother of two, in an Edmonton courtroom on Thursday morning.

At the same hearing, Musila was sentenced for committing an indignity to a body in connection with the case, something she had previously pleaded guilty to.

For that crime, she was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison. However, that sentence will be reduced by 30 days because of a Charter right violation the court ruled she experienced. The sentence must be served concurrently to the murder sentence.

The court ruled Musila’s Charter rights were violated after her arrest because she was not taken to see a justice of the peace as quickly as she was supposed to.

In June, Musila was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 75-year-old Ronald Worsfold, whom she had been living with.

An autopsy determined Worsfold died of a stab wound to the abdomen.

During Musila’s trial, the Crown argued it believed Musila drugged Worsfold with Ativan before repeatedly hitting him with a hammer and stabbing him with a knife when he was lying in bed.

Over the course of the trial, a judge noted that Musila, who claimed she did not kill Worsfold, changed her story repeatedly over years since his death, first telling police she didn’t know where Worsfold was and then saying her boyfriend killed him.

Victim impact statements were given by Worsfold’s loved ones on Wednesday, in which they spoke of grappling with their sudden loss and experiencing trauma as a result.

While delivering the sentence Thursday, the judge became emotional and told Worsfold’s family that no sentence could ease their suffering.

Stacey Worsfold, Ronald Worsfold’s daughter, said hearing her father’s killer be sentenced felt like a large weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

“I am so grateful … we got the conviction and we got the maximum sentence,” she said after Musila was sentenced. “I think one of the hardest parts for me is there still is no remorse — there is still no accountability on her end.

“How can you change and become a better person if you can’t acknowledge the errors of your ways? You can’t acknowledge your own faulty thinking, your own faulty behaviours? Maybe something will happen in her time served. I can only hope.”

At the hearing, it was noted that Musila had prior criminal convictions, including two for assault.

Worsfold said her father is still always present in her thoughts.

“My dad and I were best friends. We were two peas in a pod. When he died, half of my heart died.”

–with files from Sarah Ryan, Global News