Man in prison for killing of woman in Edmonton hotel appeals conviction, sentence

EDMONTON – A former long-haul trucker from Ontario who is in an Alberta prison for the killing of a woman in an Edmonton hotel a decade ago is appealing his conviction and sentence.

Bradley Barton was sentenced last month to 12 1/2 years for manslaughter in the death of Cindy Gladue, a Métis and Cree woman who bled to death in a bathtub at the Yellowhead Inn in 2011.

Medical experts testified Gladue had four times the legal limit of alcohol in her system when Barton performed a sexual act that caused a severe wound to her vagina.

It was the second trial for Barton after a jury found him not guilty in 2015 of first-degree murder, a verdict that sparked rallies and calls for justice for Indigenous women across the country.

Defence lawyer Dino Bottos, in the notice of appeal, says the trial judge made several errors and that 12 1/2 years is excessive and unreasonable.

The Crown has already filed an appeal of the sentence, arguing that it is unfit and not proportional to the gravity of the offence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2021.