SARNIA -- Thomas Moffit has been convicted of second-degree murder in the 2007 killing of his girlfriend, Shelley Mathieu-Read, whose body has never been found.
A Superior Court jury deliberated for only one hour yesterday before handing down its decision.
The speed of the deliberation was surprising, Sgt. Scott MacLean said.
MacLean and Sgt. John Pearce of the Sarnia police were interrogating Moffit's sister, Kathy Long, when she admitted that during a barroom conversation in May 2007 he'd confessed to the murder.
During Long's days of testimony, she said Moffit had told her he snapped Mathieu-Read's neck in the hallway of their Finch Drive apartment building in Sarnia.
A few days later, Moffit borrowed a truck, a shovel and a wheelbarrow from Long and disposed of her body in rural Lambton.
The search for her body will continue.
It'll be up to Moffit and his lawyer to determine if he will make any further comment about the location of her body, MacLean said.
Defence lawyer Jeanine LeRoy said she didn't discuss that possibility with Moffit following the verdict.
She had no comment on whether such a discussion has ever taken place.
Long testified Moffit had suggested in prior conversations he would dispose of a body at sites near Churchill Line, which runs from Sarnia to Middlesex County.
That area will continue to be the focus of the search.
Residents across rural Lambton and Middlesex are asked to contact Sarnia police if they notice anything unusual on their property, said MacLean.
"This case will never be over until we find Shelley and bring her home to her family," said Lambton Crown attorney Diane Foster.
Foster and Mathieu-Read's daughter hugged before the daughter left the building.
The daughter's victim impact statement will be presented during the Sept. 16 sentencing hearing.
The daughter's missing person report in late July 2007 started the investigation that ended with Moffit's arrest in London a month later.
Life in prison is the mandatory sentence that will be imposed, but Justice Joseph Donohue will determine when Moffit will be eligible for parole.
He will consider Moffit's character, the circumstances surrounding the murder and the jurors' recommendation in setting parole ineligibility, which can range from 10 to 25 years.
Ten of 11 jurors recommended no parole for 20 years and one said 22 years.
One juror was excused during the trial due to a family death. Moffit rejected the preparation of a pre-sentence report that would explore his background.
His criminal record, which includes convictions for armed robbery in 1993 and uttering threats in 2003, was filed with the court yesterday.
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