After 2 convictions and appeals, woman pleads guilty to second-degree murder in 2002 slaying
By Keith Fraser
November 4, 2009 12:02 PM
Darlene Young is led away from the Vernon courthouse in 2002 after being charged
with second-degree murder of her 62-year-old husband Frederick Payton.
Photograph by: Vernon Morning Star, The Province
A Falkland woman who was twice convicted of murdering her husband but won new trials on appeal in each case on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the fatal shooting.
In April 2002 Darlene Alice Young, 46, had been charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of Frederick (Skip) Payton, 62, at their ranch home in the Interior.
Prior to the shooting, Payton had been out drinking with a friend at a local pub.
Young testified that Payton had called her from the pub and threatened to kill her. She drove to the ranch and when her husband arrived home, she shot him at point-blank range with a shotgun.
The case went to trial in 2003, and ended with a conviction. On appeal a new trial was ordered and in 2005 she was convicted again, with the defence arguing that she was a victim of battered-woman syndrome. In October 2008, the B.C. Court of Appeal ordered a third trial, which was scheduled to get under way in January.
But the prosecutors and the defence reached an agreement to have her plead guilty to second-degree murder and receive the mandatory life sentence with the minimum of 10 years of parole ineligibility. She had received a life sentence with no parole for 15 years after the second conviction.
“I’ve spoken to the victim’s family members and they are of a mind that this matter should come to an end,” Crown counsel Lorne Fisher told B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm during a short hearing in Vancouver.
“They are pleased about the outcome. They were concerned about a third trial.”
Kevin McCullough, Young’s lawyer, told the judge that his client is sorry for what she did and has taken steps toward rehabilitation while in prison, with her becoming involved in an animal program.
He said it was clear her guilty plea at this time was “meaningful” given the prolonged history to the case.
The defence lawyer asked the judge for a recommendation that his client remain in minimum security, where she has received escorted temporary absences.
The judge agreed with Fisher’s and McCullough’s submissions and imposed the mandatory life prison sentence with the minimum of no parole for 10 years.
“It seems to me that you have made great progress in your own rehabilitation,” noted the judge. “Let me say that I wish you well.”
Young, who has remained in custody for more than seven years, is expected to have a parole hearing within six months.
The accused, wearing a black jacket and blue jeans, sat quietly in the prisoner’s dock, using a Kleenex to wipe away some tears at one point.
In addition to the sentence, the judge imposed a lifetime firearms ban and was ordered to provide a DNA sample.
In April 2002 Darlene Alice Young, 46, had been charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of Frederick (Skip) Payton, 62, at their ranch home in the Interior.
Prior to the shooting, Payton had been out drinking with a friend at a local pub.
Young testified that Payton had called her from the pub and threatened to kill her. She drove to the ranch and when her husband arrived home, she shot him at point-blank range with a shotgun.
The case went to trial in 2003, and ended with a conviction. On appeal a new trial was ordered and in 2005 she was convicted again, with the defence arguing that she was a victim of battered-woman syndrome. In October 2008, the B.C. Court of Appeal ordered a third trial, which was scheduled to get under way in January.
But the prosecutors and the defence reached an agreement to have her plead guilty to second-degree murder and receive the mandatory life sentence with the minimum of 10 years of parole ineligibility. She had received a life sentence with no parole for 15 years after the second conviction.
“I’ve spoken to the victim’s family members and they are of a mind that this matter should come to an end,” Crown counsel Lorne Fisher told B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Patrick Dohm during a short hearing in Vancouver.
“They are pleased about the outcome. They were concerned about a third trial.”
Kevin McCullough, Young’s lawyer, told the judge that his client is sorry for what she did and has taken steps toward rehabilitation while in prison, with her becoming involved in an animal program.
He said it was clear her guilty plea at this time was “meaningful” given the prolonged history to the case.
The defence lawyer asked the judge for a recommendation that his client remain in minimum security, where she has received escorted temporary absences.
The judge agreed with Fisher’s and McCullough’s submissions and imposed the mandatory life prison sentence with the minimum of no parole for 10 years.
“It seems to me that you have made great progress in your own rehabilitation,” noted the judge. “Let me say that I wish you well.”
Young, who has remained in custody for more than seven years, is expected to have a parole hearing within six months.
The accused, wearing a black jacket and blue jeans, sat quietly in the prisoner’s dock, using a Kleenex to wipe away some tears at one point.
In addition to the sentence, the judge imposed a lifetime firearms ban and was ordered to provide a DNA sample.
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