Karen Rodrigue, twice convicted for the 2004 second-degree murder of Gerald Dawson, has filed for an appeal.
In the summer of 2004, Rodrigue fatally stabbed the 64-year-old Dawson in his Whitehorse home, hid his body under a sheet and went on a 10-day cocaine binge with proceeds raised by pawning Dawson’s saws and selling fuel bought with his gas card.
After a 10-day jury trial, Rodrigue was found guilty on November 22 and sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 10 years.
“I accept the verdict for myself and for my family,” she said at the time.
In January 2006, Rodrigue appealed a murder conviction she had received in the fall of 2005, alleging that the Crown had presented the jury with “myths and stereotypes” to disprove the defence of provocation.
Presiding Justice John Vertes failed to provide adequate or proper instruction to the jury in respect to the elements of provocation, alleges the recent appeal.
The appeal calls for either a manslaughter conviction or a retrial.
Rodrigue is currently serving out her sentence at the Fraser Valley Institution in Abbotsford, BC.