Jose Fernandes sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years

Bradford man sentenced for wife’s murder A Bradford man was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to second degree murder. CTV’s Rob Cooper reports.

A judge sentenced a Bradford man to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years after he pleaded guilty to the second degree murder of his wife.

Jose Fernandes was originally charged with the first-degree murder, but he chose to enter a guilty plea to the lesser charge of second-degree murder in October.

Police arrested Fernandes at his home on Colborne Street in Bradford on November 21, 2015.  They found his wife, 49-year-old Maria Fernandes, stabbed to death as she lay in bed.

The court heard Fernandes stabbed his wife in the abdomen. When officers arrived on scene Fernandes told them "Maria no more."

The court also heard this was not the first time Fernandes had stabbed his wife.

In 2002, Fernandes stabbed his wife multiple times in the basement of their home, but he was later found not fit for trial.

Instead, he spent three years at Waypoint Mental Health Centre in Penetanguishene and after being released he moved to Portugal for nine years.

Fernandes moved back to Bradford in 2015 shortly before he murdered his wife.

Fernandes will be eligible to apply for parole in 2030.