A Fort St. John man who pleaded guilty to killing his wife has been sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 10 years for an attack the judge called “persistent, determined, ferocious violence.”
Shane Vernon Sutherland, 29, pleaded guilty in B.C. Supreme Court to the Feb. 8, 2021 second-degree murder of his spouse, Amanda Black.
A post‑mortem examination of Black's body disclosed injuries to her head, chest, and hands, including 12 chop wounds to her head and seven stab wounds to her chest.
“This crime was horrifically brutal, tragic, and senseless,” Justice Lisa Warren said in her Oct. 19 decision released Nov. 15. “The extreme family violence left the young child of Ms. Black and Mr. Sutherland without their mother and essentially without their father as well.
“It caused and continues to cause profound pain for Ms. Black's family and friends,” the judge said.
The court heard Sutherland met Black when he was 19 years old and they eventually moved in together.
By Feb. 8, 2021, they were having frequent arguments, often about Black's alleged infidelity and parenting style.
He expressed remorse to the court for his actions.
Circumstances
Sutherland and Black were common-law partners and the biological parents of one child. They lived together in a Fort St. John townhouse.
By Feb. 8, 2021, the relationship had deteriorated and was in the process of breaking down, Warren said.
Black spent much of the day on Feb. 8, 2021 with her friend, Erica Schulenburg. The child was at daycare and Sutherland was at work.
Black and Schulenburg picked up the child from daycare and then they picked up Sutherland at work.
Black and Schulenburg then went grocery shopping returning shortly after.
Sutherland helped Black carry the groceries into the house. Schulenburg stayed in the car and waited for Black to return as they had plans to go out again.
About 7:26 p.m., Schulenburg phoned Black who said she would be right out.
“She never did come out of the residence,” Warren said. “Very shortly after that call, Mr. Sutherland killed her. He struck her with a spike axe numerous times on her head and face, and he stabbed her with a knife many times. In doing this, he meant to cause her death.”
The child was in a nearby crib.
Sutherland then phoned his mother and father and told them he had killed Black. His mother called 911.
Police found Black's body with a plastic bag over her head. An axe handle was on her chest, having separated from the axe head at some point. The axe head was lodged in her skull.
Sutherland was arrested.
Psychiatrist Dr. Johann Brink said Sutherland told him that during an argument in the moments prior to the murder, Black revealed that she was having an affair and she threatened to leave with the child — which she had done before.
“He told Dr. Brink that this caused him to lose control and triggered the violence that immediately followed,” Warren said.
She said Sutherland’s remorse and guilty plea were mitigating factors in sentencing.
