By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Two Men Sentenced for 2013 Murder

Jun 24, 2016 | 1:23 PM

LETHBRIDGE – Just over one year after they were convicted of second degree murder for the death of 58-year old George Span, Michael Mitchell and Addison Wakefield have been sentenced.

With both having automatically received life sentences after their conviction for the crime that occured in January of 2013, parole eligibility was the focus of the hearing Friday.

After hearing from the Crown and lawyers for the two men, Justice D.K. Miller set Mitchell’s eligibility for parole at 15-years and Wakefield’s at 18-years.

Miller went over a pre-sentence report for Mitchell that stated he has shown sincere remorse for his actions and has taken responsibility for his role in the crime. He also discussed a report that examined Mitchell’s aboriginal heritage and the challenges he faced growing up. He noted however, that Mitchell had assaulted Span just one week before to the murder, and has a long criminal history.

For Wakefield, Miller noted that he had been out of prison for less than a year – after serving time for manslaughter – when they killed Span. He also talked about a lack of remorse on the part of Wakefield and the fact that he has never taken any responsibility for what happened.

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In delivering his sentence, Miller pointed out that Wakefield is considered a high risk to re-offend, while Mitchell is moderate to high.

In a victim impact statement from Span’s daughter Amy, she said, “The murder of my father has taken everything from me,” adding “No one deserves to be taken from the world so cruelly.” She also went over the fact that Span had nearly beaten cancer at the time of his death, ending with the statement, “Lastly, I want you to know that I forgive you.”