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Just two weeks after he was sentenced for a second time to life in prison for killing his wife at their home in Regina, Jason McKay died at Saskatchewan Penitentiary.
The Correctional Service of Canada said in a news release that the 54-year-old died on Wednesday.
It did not provide any further details about the cause of death.
“As in all cases involving the death of an inmate,” the correctional service will review the circumstances and notify the police and coroner, as per policy, the news release said.
McKay attacked and killed his wife Jenny McKay in the early hours of Sept. 6, 2017, at their home at 207 Angus St. in Regina. Jenny was 33 years old.
Jenny Leigh McKay, 33, was killed by her husband Jason in September 2017. (Submitted by Doug Campbell)
Jason was sentenced on Feb. 24 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 17 years. He had been in custody since his arrest on Sept. 6, 2017. His parole ineligibility period was calculated from that date, meaning he would have been eligible to seek parole in 2034.
His sentencing in February came after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on the eve of his re-trial.
He was first convicted of second-degree murder after a trial in 2020, but successfully appealed.
In the written decision on his parole eligibility date last month, Justice Beverly Klatt described the case as one of “indescribable viciousness.”
WATCH | Convicted wife killer Jason McKay ineligible for parole until 2034:
Convicted wife killer Jason McKay ineligible for parole until 2034
A judge has ruled that convicted murderer Jason McKay must serve at least 17 years of his life sentence in prison for killing his wife, Jenny McKay, in 2017.
“The impact on Jenny’s family has been devastating,” Klatt wrote, adding that the pain described in each one of her family’s victim impact statements “is palpable.”
She said the murder also harmed Jason’s daughters, “who came to know and love Jenny,” and his mother, “who is grief-stricken.”