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Douglas Hales gets life sentence behind bars

Dec 17, 2014 | 11:17 AM

Douglas Hales has been found guilty of second-degree murder and offering indignity to human remains.

A Saskatoon judge sentenced Hales to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years.

Hales was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Daleen Bosse, a 25-year-old mother and student who went missing in 2004. A judge ruled Hales was sober enough to burn Bosse’s body and drive her car.

Officers got a confession from Hales in 2008 using what’s known as a “Mr. Big” technique. By pretending to be gangsters out to recruit him, police were able to record Hales making detailed admissions about Bosse. He led undercover cops to Bosse’s remains.

Hales testified his graphic and brutal story of killing Bosse was made up to impress the undercover officers. He said Bosse died of alcohol poisoning.

Judge Gerald Allbright said he didn’t believe the alcohol poisoning story. He believes Bosse had some drinks that night but not enough to kill her.

“I’m not satisfied Daleen Bosse was anything other than a social drinker,” he said at the Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatoon Wednesday.

Allbright said Hales lied about details in his testimony, which damaged his credibility.

The verdict was delayed because of a Supreme Court ruling on a case out of Newfoundland which changed the rules for evidence gathering by undercover police.

Allbright ruled that the Mr. Big evidence in the Hales trial is admissible and met the tests set out by the Supreme Court. Bosse’s family was visibly relieved in the courtroom when Allbright said there was no evidence of police abuse in the Mr. Big sting. 

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