Northern Ont. woman who killed husband with baseball bat eligible for parole in 10 years

A woman from the northern Ontario town of Chapleau, who pleaded guilty to murdering her husband in 2021, has received the mandatory life sentence and is eligible for parole after serving a total of 12 years in custody.

Jodi Wheeler was 57 years old when she was charged with first-degree murder in connection with her 62-year-old husband Leo Brunette's death Sept. 12, 2021.

Leo Patrick Brunette, 62, was killed by his wife Jodi Wheeler on Sept. 12, 2021. (Kerry Funeral Home)

The victim and the accused -- who is now 58 -- had only been married for a few weeks prior to the murder, Justice Cindy MacDonald said during a sentencing hearing Thursday morning at the District of Cochrane Courtroom in Timmins.

Brunette, who had been previously widowed, died of blunt force trauma to the head after Wheeler beat him with a baseball bat in the backyard of their home.

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In a phone interview with CTV News Thursday morning, defence attorney Glenn Sandberg said after careful and intense negotiation with the Crown, Wheeler pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder and was granted bail in early October 2022.

The plea spares the family from testifying at a preliminary hearing and again at trial, he said.

Assistant Crown Attorney Wayne O'Hanley told the court during the sentencing hearing the plea saves the public and justice system significant resources.

District of Cochrane Courtroom in Timmins. Feb. 9/23 (Sergio Arangio/CTV Northern Ontario)

Murder convictions in Canada receive automatic life sentences, but a judge is able to decide how long a convicted person must stay in prison before becoming eligible to apply for parole.

In second-degree murder cases, the eligibility is between 10 and 25 years, Sandberg said.

The Crown and defence made a joint sentencing submission Thursday asking that Wheeler become eligible to apply for parole after serving 12 years in prison and the judge agreed.

Her 516 days spent in pre-plea custody counts toward that time, the Crown said, which means Wheeler would be eligible for parole after serving 10 more years and 214 days.

Two of Brunette's family members read emotional victim impact statements during the sentencing hearing in Timmins on Thursday.

Karen Perrault, Brunette's younger sister, read hers first and said her brother seemed unhappy with his relationship with the accused and made an unsuccessful attempt to have the marriage annulled.

"My life is never going to be the same after this horrific crime," Perrault said.

"The crime and its particular viciousness makes me worry about leaving my home. I feel broken, anxious and depressed ... I can't sleep at night."

She said she would talk to her brother every morning when he was alive and misses him desperately.

CTV News was at the sentencing hearing and will have more updates shortly.