A Regina judge has sentenced Clayton Eichler to life in prison with no chance of parole for 20 years for the murders of two women.
Victim impact statements from the family of Kelly Goforth and Richele Bear were heard at the sentencing hearing Tuesday at Court of Queen’s Bench.
“I miss everything about her,” Goforth’s mother, Maxine Goforth, said in her statement. “The past three years have been agony for me… I’ve cried many, many nights wondering why.”
She added that her daughter will not be able to see her son grow up.
Michele Bear expressed similar feelings about her daughter.
"The day Richele was murdered, we all lost a piece of us and it can never be replaced."
Richele Bear’s aunt, Angela Gray, said her niece “had an amazing heart.”
Eichler, 35, pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder charges in the deaths of the two women, who the Crown says both died by strangulation. Eichler was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths.
Kelly Goforth’s body was found in a plastic bag inside a hockey bag in an alley in the 1700 block of McAra Street a few days after she vanished in September 2013. The Crown says Eichler had bought the hockey bag her body was found in.
An autopsy led investigators to Eichler’s home, where photographs of Richele Bear were found. The Crown says she has a mark around her neck and appears to be dead in the photos. Her body has not yet been located.
“I would like to know what you did with her body,” Richele Bear’s grandmother, Mary Hughes, said to Eichler in court.
When asked in court if he had anything to say, Eichler said “if it means anything, I am deeply sorry.”
With files from The Canadian Press
