NEW WESTMINSTER (NEWS 1130) – Sentencing for the fourth man to plead guilty in the death of Lisa Dudley in Mission back in 2008 starts Monday.
Tom Holden pled guilty in September to conspiracy to commit murder. He had apparently arranged the shooting of Dudley and her boyfriend in their Mission home, in a dispute over a marijuana grow-op.
“I’m not expecting much. I have learned to expect less since this whole thing has started. Everything has been a disappointment, a horrible disappointment,” says Rosemarie Surakka, Dudley’s mother.
The three other men also entered guilty pleas — one for two counts of first-degree murder and the other for manslaughter.
The third man was sentenced to seven years behind bars, but was credited with five years for time served.
“I just find the whole thing horrible, from beginning to – well, there is no end. And to have to listen to the sentencing I’m sure it’s not going to be any better than what we’ve had up until now.”
The sentencing won’t mark the end of the Surakka’s legal journey.
They’re looking forward to a coroner’s inquest and are still working on a lawsuit against the Canadian government, saying a botched RCMP response violated Dudley’s Charter rights.
The lawsuit is related to how RCMP officers failed to thoroughly investigate initial calls that shots had been fired in Dudley’s neighbourhood.
The first RCMP officer who responded to the call never got out of his police cruiser and later reported he didn’t see anything unusual.
Dudley was in fact inside her home alive and bleeding, but she wasn’t discovered until four days later. The 37-year-old then died on the way to the hospital.
In a subsequent police review, that Mountie was found guilty of disgraceful conduct and deducted one day’s pay.
Rosemarie and Mark Surakka have also launched an online fundraising drive to help cover legal costs.