Prince George, B.C.- It will be another day before Denis Ratte finds out how much time he will have to serve in prison before being eligible for parole.

 

58 year old Ratte was found guilty of second degree murder in the death of his wife, Wendy. The conviction carries a life sentence, which could see him serve at least 10 years, and as much as 25 before being eligible for parole.   Even if paroled, any breach of that parole would see him returned to prison.

Wendy was last seen August 18^th of 1997 in Prince George. The vehicle belonging to the 44 year old woman was abandoned  in the parking lot of the former Overwaitea grocery store on Spruce Street ( now Value Village). Her remains have not been found.

 

Ratte maintains he is innocent, and during the course of his 4 week trial, he recanted the confessions he had made to undercover police officers who had drawn him into a mythical crime group.

 

For more than two hours this morning, Crown and Defence presented their cases for how much time Ratte should be forced to serve before being eligible for parole.

 

Crown outlined several cases it said were similar, but pointed out there were aggravating circumstances in this case. The Crown said that during the undercover operation, Ratte had confessed to shooting his wife in the back of the head on their residential property.  That when he tried to roll her body into a tarp, she was still moving, so he smashed her head with a jack-all. Crown went on to say he denied his wife any dignity in death, stripping her of her clothing, dumping her naked body in a swamp and waited to make sure the body would stay submerged. “When a leg rose, he poked at it with a sick” Crown Counsel Marie Louise Ahrens told the court. She went on to say he continued the indignity by telling people he killed her because she was a sexual predator who planned to rape their daughter.

 

Crown is recommending Ratte serve at least 15 years. Crown also pointed out that the Jury was split on its recommendation for parole ineligibility. The majority called for 25 years, the balance called for no less than 15.

 

The Defence  presented it’s own set of cases which it says bear similarity to the Ratte case, but noted that because Ratte maintains he is innocent, there is no remorse, so he “cannot be given credit (reduced time) for that.”

 

The Defence also questions the  accuracy of the undercover confessions, asking if perhaps there was some embellishment  from Ratte in an effort to impress those he thought to be part of a crime group.  “These undercover operations are designed to bring out the worst in a person” said Lawyer James Heller. Defence is calling for parole ineligibility of 10 to 15 years.

 

Justice Glen Parrett then asked Ratte if there was anything he would like to say to the court. Ratte stood, turned to the gallery and made a barely audible comment to his daughter, Anna Sieppert. He then told  Justice Parrett “I can’t say anything else or I’ll start crying.”

 

Justice Parrett advised the court that while he would have liked to have delivered his decision today, the amount of case law presented to him would take some time to review, so that means the decision will not be delivered until tomorrow morning at 10:00.

 

Outside the courtroom, Anna Sieppert was asked to share what her father had said to her. Fighting back tears, she said “He told me to keep looking for my mother.”