Family and friends of Alexandra Flanagan stood outside a Barrie courtroom hugging and crying after a Barrie jury found Andrew Keene guilty of second-degree murder.
The jury came back with the verdict in a Barrie courtroom on Tuesday after only one day of deliberations. Keene was also found guilty of committing an indignity to a human body.
“I think about her every day. I must think about her; I tell her I love her,” says Wendy Flanagan, Alexandra’s mother. “I just miss her so much and I am sure wherever she is, she's very happy right now.”
Flanagan disappeared in July of 2007 – some of her remains were discovered in Lackies Bush in Barrie that same year. Investigators would go onto discover more of her remains in the months that followed.
Phone records showed multiple calls and texts between Keene and Flanagan around the time of her disappearance. When police searched Keene's apartment, they found a blood stain on the inside of a hockey bag. The blood turned out to be Flanagan’s.
Keene was arrested in 2011 after the Crown says he confessed to undercover police officers.
During closing submissions, the defence tried to argue that there was no way the Crown had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Keene committed the murder.
Members of Keene's family did not want to speak on camera on Tuesday, but in a statement they told CTV News they wanted to thank their friends and family for their support and that "it is a difficult time for all involved."
As for the Flanagan family, Tuesday is the end of another chapter in what has been a difficult journey.
“We thank the police, because if it wouldn't have been for them, we would still be at home weeping,” says Jerry Flanagan.
The jury was divided on when Keene should be eligible for parole, but recommended 15 to 25 years. However, it will ultimately fall on a judge to decide Keene’s punishment.
That decision will come down at a sentencing hearing on Thursday.
