Man gets 13 years without parole after killing wife

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This article was published 07/06/2022 (1302 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — Robert Hughes will spend 13 years in prison before being eligible to apply for parole for the 2019 murder of his wife.

“The accused killed his spouse in their home during their separation. Betty (Hughes) suffered significant injuries and would have suffered before she died. She was beaten and cut. No effort of the accused was made to give her medical attention,” Justice Scott Abel said during the Monday sentencing hearing in the Brandon Court of Queen’s Bench.

Robert Hughes, 65, was found guilty by a jury of second-degree murder, after a trial in December. The automatic sentence is life in prison.

While Hughes can apply for parole after 13 years, it is not guaranteed, Abel said. The judge noted Hughes will be 78 before he can make the application.

“Betty should have been safe in her home. She should have been able to make the decision and determination for herself to leave the relationship… The accused, by his actions, not only took that autonomy from Betty, but also took the life of Betty. The accused could have at any time left the residence. He did not.”

Crown attorney Christian Vanderhooft recommended a sentence of 17 years in prison before parole eligibility; defence lawyer Saul Simmonds recommended 10 years.

While the sentence imposed Monday is at the lower end of the range, Abel said it is not indicative of the value of the victim’s life.

“Betty’s life had value and meaning, regardless of my determination today. That value is reflected in her support present in court, in her children and in their love for their mother,” he told the court.

Hughes wore a black suit and grey striped tie as he sat in the accused’s box during the hearing. He looked at the gallery as he walked into the courtroom but not on the way out.

On Oct. 22, 2019, Brandon firefighters responded to an explosion at an east-end property. When they arrived, the walls of the house were blown out and Manitoba Hydro had to turn off the natural gas line.

Brandon Police Service Const. Travis Foster testified on the first day of the trial Betty Hughes, 63, was found inside the destroyed house, with multiple cuts and lying in a pool of blood.

Firefighters found Robert Hughes with a noose around his neck in the destroyed house, the court heard. He was transported to the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, where he was arrested by Brandon police Oct. 25.

A pathologist testified Betty Hughes had more than a dozen injuries, but the ultimate cause of death was blood loss from an 11.7-centimetre wound that extended from her eyebrow across her temple and into her ear.

The couple’s son, Adam Hughes, remembered his mother for her kindness and dedication to her children in a sentencing hearing last month. He said his life has been permanently changed by the murder.

The judge said Monday he hopes the family can begin to heal as the court process comes to an end.

Family members who attended court Monday declined to comment after the hearing.

Abel also banned Hughes from owning firearms for the rest of his life and ordered him to provide a DNA sample to police.

— Brandon Sun