Hutt found guilty of first-degree murder
Posted Jun 7, 2013 05:08:41 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – Mark Hutt has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the horrific death of his wife Donna Jones.
When the jury announced its verdict early on Friday morning, less than a day after deliberations began, the courtroom erupted into applause and cheers.
“An evil man was put to jail for evil crimes done to my sister and he will pay for the rest of his life,” says brother Derek Jones, leaving the court house. “The justice system prevailed.”
Jones died in 2009 after Hutt doused her with a cauldron of boiling water.
He told police it was an accidental spill, while he was making dinner but he didn’t call 911 for almost two weeks, until his wife had stopped breathing.
Jones died 11 days after the scalding from septic shock because her wounds had become infected.
Evidence shows that Hutt continued to torture Jones, by breaking her nose and firing at least two air gun pellets into her body as she lay in agony on the basement floor.
Jones says it was difficult to sit through the trial and listen to how his sister was treated.
“All she wanted to do was have a loving, caring family and this is what she got from an evil man,” says Jones.
He says he hopes the case will prompt victims of domestic abuse to seek help.
“Get help. There’s lots of support networks out there,” he says. “You deserve better. You don’t need to suffer.”
First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence, with no chance of parole for 25 years.
He will be sentenced on June 25.
