Appeal court upgrades murder convictions of Calgary couple in child abuse case
CALGARY — Alberta’s top court has upgraded second-degree murder convictions to first-degree murder for a father and stepmother who beat, tortured and killed their six-year-old girl.
The Court of Appeal agreed with a Crown appeal that Spencer Jordan and Marie Magoon are guilty of the more serious crime and should be sentenced to life with no parole for at least 25 years.
The couple was originally charged with first-degree murder, but found guilty last year of second-degree murder and given no chance of parole for 17 years.
The trial heard that Meika Jordan was severely abused over the course of a weekend in November 2011.