Edmonton Man Given 10-Year Sentence for Manslaughter, Will Only Serve Three

An Edmonton man who fatally strangled a Montreal woman only has 3 1/2 years left of his 10 year prison sentence due to pre-trial credit.

Gregory Christopher Tessman pleaded guilty earlier this year to manslaughter for killing 29-year-old Valerie Maurice in his north Edmonton apartment, where first responders found Maurice’s bound and gagged body hidden beneath a pile of clothes in August 2017.

Maurice’s father says the “unacceptable and cruel” way his daughter was killed will haunt him for the rest of his life. Maurice’s aunt and father described the suffering they’ve endured since her death. Sylvie Bergeron described receiving the call from Maurice’s dad informing her she was missing. She remembered desperately hoping the woman found in Tessman’s apartment wasn’t her niece.

“I fear what can happen once you’re released,” she told Tessman by video stream. “How will you react in the future if you lose control? Will there be a next victim?”

“Four years have passed and I still wake up with that split second (thought), hoping it was only a nightmare,” Michael Maurice added in a victim impact statement.

Tessman has a low IQ according to defence lawyer Kathryn Quinlan told court. He was previously sentenced for sexually assaulting an escort at a motel in Daysland back in the mid-2000s.

Valerie Maurice was working as an escort. When Tessman revealed he had no money. Maurice got up to leave, but Tessman blocked her path. Maurice began to scream whereupon Tessman killed her.