Second of three accused in northern Ontario death makes plea bargain

Playing null of undefined

Northern Ontario murder victim's family upset with suspect’s plea deal

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A man charged with first-degree murder in the death of a northern Ontario woman in 2022 has made a plea bargain to escape a possible life sentence and will soon be released from prison.

He is the second of three suspects to have done so.

Missing woman found dead

Ashley Lafrance, 29, went missing from Kirkland Lake on Sept. 7, 2022.

Her body was found 53 days later in a wooded area off Highway 66 in Holmes Township, about 45 kilometres west.

Even before her remains were found, Ontario Provincial Police charged three people with her murder – Mark Anderson, 57, Chantal Aube, 43 and 40-year-old Darcy Shail.

Two plea deals made to date

Anderson, the second suspect to make a plea bargain, appeared at the Haileybury courthouse Monday morning.

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He has been in jail for 926 days since his arrest.

Charged with first-degree murder, the now 60-year-old man pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in a deal between the Crown and defence.

During the hearing, he sat handcuffed in the prisoner’s box wearing a black, long-sleeved dress shirt and grey pants.

In an agreed statement of facts, the court heard that Lafrance was driven to the bush by three assailants before being attacked and left for dead over drugs.

Justice Susan Stothart accepted the joint sentencing submission of 1,569 days (4.3 years) imprisonment, three years of probation, lifetime firearms ban, non-contact orders and a submission to the DNA database.

Once his credit for pre-trial custody is factored in, Anderson will only serve another six months in prison.

‘Ain’t no justice’

Stothart acknowledged the timing of the sentencing, being the day after Mother’s Day.

Lafrance’s mother, Marion Effenberger, and 15-year-old son, Liam, both gave victim impact statements at the hearing.

“She was kind. She was lovable. She treated everybody fairly. She was just a beautiful person,” Effenberger said.

In his victim impact statement, Liam wrote, “She’ll never see me grow up or tell me ‘I love you.’ She wasn’t perfect, but she was my mom.”

The grieving mother expressed outrage after Anderson’s sentencing.

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“There ain’t no justice. You just witnessed it right in there,” she told CTV News Northern Ontario in an interview outside the courthouse.

“He got away with bloody murder. He gets to breathe. He gets to see the sun. My daughter doesn’t even get to see her son.”

Defence attorney Andrew Perrin said his client is pleased with the outcome.

“That having been said, nobody’s going to be completely happy,” Perrin told CTV News in an interview.

“This is a terrible set of circumstances, unfortunately.”

Woman already sentenced

Aube was the first of the three accused to make a plea bargain.

Also facing a first-degree murder charge, she pleaded guilty Feb. 9, 2024, to being an accessory to murder after the fact by helping Anderson and Shail.

A joint submission between the defence and Crown saw Aube sentenced to two years minus a pre-trial custody credit calculated at 1.5:1.

She forfeited all items seized during the investigation, has to submit DNA to the national registry, has a non-communication order and is prohibited from possessing weapons.

Third suspect awaiting trial

The first-degree murder charge laid against Shail has been downgraded to second-degree murder, CTV News has learned through the court.

The allegation has not been proven in court.

He is scheduled to appear in Haileybury Superior Court on June 2 for trial.

“I will never forgive and I will never forget what they’ve done,” Lafrance’s mom said.