Nearly 40 years after the death of Michael Traynor, the man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter has been sentenced.
On Thursday, a judge sentenced Donald Feldhoff to six and a half years for manslaughter, 18 months for interfering with a dead human body and six months for a separate charge of possession of child pornography.
With credit for time already served, Feldhoff will serve 27 more months behind bars.
Traynor’s family left the Barrie court house stating justice was not served.
"He got a slap on the wrist,” says Gail Traynor. “He should have got more."
In an agreed statement facts, Feldhoff admitted to shooting Traynor, after Traynor broke into his Worsley Street home in Barrie in 1978.
Feldhoff later called his father, William Feldhoff, who helped him tie up Traynor’s body with wire and dump it in a wooded area.
Feldhoff turned himself over to police in 2012.
His father pleaded guilty to improperly interfering with a dead human body last September for his role in Traynor’s death.
In handing down the sentence, Justice Michelle Fuerst said "his conduct went well beyond what was justified to protect himself or the property that was his home. By his hand, the life of another young man was snuffed out and a family subjected to deep anguish that they are now reliving."
The judge did give Feldhoff credit for turning himself into police, saying Traynor's death would have remained unsolved and neither Donald or his father would have been held accountable.
The defence was asking for up to five and a half years in prison, including time credit for time served. Feldhoff's lawyer says this sentence is too high and is now considering an appeal.
"Mr. Feldhoff was not out there looking for trouble, he was sleeping in his bed when this incident occurred," says Gregory Leslie, defence lawyer.
