Mike on Crime

THE CANADIAN PRESS
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — A Newfoundland judge ruled Tuesday that a St. John’s man who strangled his girlfriend and dismembered her body last year must serve 17 years in prison before parole eligibility.
Last month, Warren White pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and interfering with a dead body in the death of Amanda Power.
The 36-year-old White choked Power to death after he suspected her of infidelity, and days later dismembered her body using a hacksaw and knife.
The 29-year-old woman’s lower torso was found in a suitcase by children playing in the backyard of White’s apartment in June 2008.
The Crown argued that White should serve 20 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole, given the horrific nature of his crimes and the emotional toll they’ve taken on the victim’s family.
But the defence urged Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Justice James Adams to allow White to apply for parole after serving 12 years, saying he is extremely remorseful for his actions.
In sentencing, Adams said: “The whole community was shocked by the gruesome discovery of Ms. Power’s body.”
“These crimes must be denounced in the strongest terms.”
Police found Power’s upper torso in a hockey bag near White’s apartment. Her head was wrapped in grocery bags inside his freezer.
In an agreed statement of facts, White admits that he cut off her arms and legs, put them into two backpacks and threw them into a river that leads into the city’s harbour. They’ve not been recovered.
During his sentencing hearing last week, White apologized to Power’s family, saying he wasn’t aware of his actions when he hacksawed her body parts because he was “wacked out” on drugs.
He said he wrapped his hands around Power’s throat, choking her to death, during a fit of rage because he believed she was cheating on him.
He said he had taken a large quantity of Clomazapam — a drug used to decrease seizures or anxiety — earlier in the day before he confronted her about his suspicions.
The grisly nature of Power’s murder stunned a city where the homicide rate is 0.6 per 100,000 people.