Man convicted of murder claims innocence

Barry David Brown enters the Calgary Courthouse on March 8, 2013

The man convicted in the murder of a Calgary mother over a decade ago was in court on Monday for sentencing and vowed to prove his innocence.

Barry David Brown, 52, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the April 16, 2001 death of 37-year-old Corinne Belanger.

Belanger was found shot to death in her northeast home and Brown was formally charged in connection to her death in 2010.

The jury consisting of six men and six women found Brown guilty of first-degree murder on Friday afternoon.

During the trial, the Crown argued that Brown killed Belanger out of loyalty to his best friend who was her common-law husband. The pair was in the middle of a separation and custody battle.

Brown maintained that he was not the killer throughout the court proceedings.

He was in court on Monday for sentencing and compared himself to David Milgaard, who spent years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

Brown told the court that he would prove his innocence saying "It took him 21 years to prove his innocence. I hope it doesn't take me that long to prove mine."

The judge admonished Brown for his statement saying it was a brutal, callous cowardly act.

The court also heard victim impact statements from Belanger's family.

Brown was sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 25 years.