Glen Assoun murder conviction should stand: victim's sister

The sister of a 28-year-old Dartmouth woman who was beaten and stabbed to death nearly 19 years ago is angry that the murder conviction of her killer is being questioned.

Glen Assoun was found guilty of second-degree murder in 1999 in the death of his ex-girlfriend, Brenda Way, and is currently serving a life sentence.

• Glen Assoun not the killer, says victim's cousin

• Glen Assoun's 1999 murder conviction under review

But Assoun, 59, has always maintained his innocence and recently a federal Department of Justice lawyer taking a fresh look at the case suggested there may have been a miscarriage of justice.

But Ways sister doesnt believe that Assoun is innocent and is convinced the murder conviction should stand.

A couple of days before (Way) was killed and she said, If you guys find me dead, Glen done it, Carol Beals tells CBC News.

She says Assoun was a violent man and her sister did not love him.

Ways body was found in November 1995 behind the Dartmouth apartment where she was living. The beating inflicted on her was so severe it split her liver. Her throat was slit.

I dont think there was a miscarriage of justice, Beals says. (Assoun) killed Brenda. He knows he killed Brenda.

Beals says the couple had broken up two or three months before Way's body was found. Way, a former prostitute, had been living with her father.

She had just got out of jail and she was off of the drugs, she was off the prostituting, and she was trying to get herself together, Beals says.

It was more than two years after Way's death before police charged Assoun with murder. He was picked up on a Canada-wide warrant in Chilliwack, B.C., where he was living.

Dartmouth lawyer Don Murray represented Assoun during his preliminary inquiry and the early stages of his trial. But Assoun fired Murray and represented himself during the jury trial.

Beals says shesupset to learn that federal officials with the Criminal Conviction Review Group aretaking another look at the case.

It made me feel angry, actually. I was really angry," she says. "He knows what he did. He has no remorse. He's still trying to keep his innocence after almost 19 years.

But according to recently filed court documents, a justice lawyer says that his preliminary investigation found there may be a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred.

The case is heading for a ministerial review in November.

Assoun, who was sentenced to life with no chance of parole for 18 years, is applying for interim release from prison.