SYDNEY, N.S. – A man who pleaded guilty to killing his roommate in Cape Breton in August 2012 was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in prison.
Forty-six-year-old Charles Jack Wheeliker of Sydney pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in the death of 35-year-old Troy Johnston of Sydney.
Court has heard that on the day of the murder Wheeliker accused Johnston of contacting a woman Johnston had previously dated.
Police have said Wheeliker placed a belt around Johnston’s neck and pulled it tigher every time Johnston’s phone would signal an incoming text message.
Supreme Court Justice Simon MacDonald accepted the joint recommendation that Wheeliker be eligible for parole after serving 13 years.
The Crown and police said the evidence suggests the two men were involved in a intimate relationship, a scenario the Johnston family denies.
