Steven Laffin sentenced to life in prison for killing Nadine Taylor

CTV Atlantic: Dartmouth man sentenced in sex worke A Dartmouth man has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 13 years in the death of a Halifax sex worker.

A Dartmouth man has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 13 years in the death of a Halifax sex worker.

Steven Laffin, 38, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in the death of Nadine Taylor after he led police to her remains in a wooded area of East Chezzetcook, N.S.

Today, her family heard that police found large blood stains in the basement of Laffin’s home weeks after she disappeared.

“This was after he attempted to clean up the house,” said Crown attorney Rick Woodburn. “There was still lots of blood left everywhere. There was blood on the murder weapons, blood on the walls, blood all over the floor. It was a clear, brutal homicide.”

“I can hear her crying for help in my head and I couldn’t be there,” said Taylor’s aunt. “That pain in my heart just won’t go away.”

“Every special occasion or event that I would have shared with her has been shattered as a result of her being murdered,” said Taylor’s mother.

Taylor, 29, vanished after she left her Halifax apartment to use a pay phone in July 2010.

Today the court heard Laffin was getting married that month and that he lured Taylor to his home and murdered her the night his fiancée was away at her stagette.

Days later, he celebrated his marriage. A month after that, the court heard he kidnapped and viciously attacked another sex worker.

She managed to jump out of the trunk of Laffin’s moving car on Old Sambro Road in Halifax on Aug. 16, 2010.

“I don’t think he expected me to get away and fight as hard as I did,” said the woman, whose identity is protected by a publication can, in court today.

Laffin became a suspect in Taylor's death in October 2010 after he was charged in connection with the kidnapping case. He pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault, uttering threats and unlawful confinement in connection with that case last fall.

Today Laffin was sentenced to nine years in prison for beating, duct-taping, and choking the woman who escaped from the trunk of his car.

“I am going to make sure he does not get out on parole, some how, some way,” said the victim. “He does not deserve to walk these streets.”

His sentence for those charges will be served concurrently to the life sentence handed down for Taylor’s murder.

The Crown prosecutors and Laffin’s defence lawyer made a joint recommendation that he serve at least 13 years in prison before being eligible to apply for parole.

He is receiving credit for time served, which means Laffin will be eligible to apply for parole in October 2023.

Justice Felix Cacchione ordered Laffin to undergo a psychiatric assessment to be considered by the parole board upon his release.

Laffin apologized to Taylor’s family today in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, but Cacchione questioned his remorse.

He also added that he didn’t believe Laffin would be released from prison anytime soon.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl and The Canadian Press