Man accused of killing mother of five found guilty

CALGARY- The three-week long trial of a Calgary man accused of killing his common-law wife has ended in a guilty verdict.

Gregory Houle was charged in the death of 45-year-old Cherry Ledesma—a mother of five. She died of blunt force trauma, and her body was hidden in her basement.

“It was exhausting and painful to hear all that happened to her, and to be sitting in the same room as someone who killed your mom is painful and it took a lot out of our family,” says daughter Tia Ledesma.

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In the year leading up to Ledesma’s death, police were called to the home 37 times due to issues with drugs and alcohol. Six incidents were related to domestic problems. Ledesma had told family she was about to seek help, but was killed a short time later.

“We all miss her and she didn’t deserve what happened to her, nobody deserves that,” Tia Ledesma said. “She was a beautiful woman. All people have their issues, but my mom is a beautiful person and she didn’t deserve to leave this world in the way that she did.”

Houle was originally charged with second-degree murder in the case, but that was downgraded to manslaughter before the trial. On Wednesday, he was found guilty of manslaughter and is now in custody awaiting sentencing.

“There’s a huge difference in the range of sentences available for manslaughter,” explains Crown prosecutor Janice Walsh. “We are going to do our research and sit down with some other senior lawyers to come to an appropriate disposition for Mr. Houle.”

Tia Ledesma says she’s happy with the judge’s decision, and hopes Houle gets a long sentence.