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Check that you have the right coverage and are getting benefits like these: • CAA MyPace™, Canada's only pay-as-you-go auto insurance payment program for those who drive less than 12,000 km/year • Forgive and Forget® plan to protect your rate/good driving record after your first at-fault accident • CAA Members save up to 20%2 on our competitive auto insurance rates You don't have to be a CAA Member to get a complimentary policy review. went out that window and he did everything he could to return, knowing he was going to die, to save his wife ... He even thought about his dogs ... He was brave enough and strong enough to go to the neighbour's door to tell all of us with his dying breath that you did it. "If he hadn't done that, you would have got away with this." Then Skarica addressed Alan's daughter, Amelia. She is expecting Alan's grandchild. "You should tell his grandchildren that he is as fine a man as ever could be," Skarica said. Amelia and her older sister, Alison, left no dry eyes with their victim im- pact statements. Jurors, court staff and police offi- cers wiped away tears. Both women recalled they weren't allowed to touch Alan at the hospital because police told them his body was evidence. "He died around 3 p.m., July 9, without being hugged goodbye," Alison said. The night before, Alison spoke to her dad for the last time. He and Carla were sitting out on the back pa- tio listening to classical music. Alan donated blood over 100 times and loved gardening. He biked every- where and loved craft beer so much it became a com- petition to find one he hadn't tried yet. "What I'd most like to convey to all you is that he was real," Alison said. "When you hugged him he was warm and solid. He smelled like a warm musk. His hands were rough, his moustache tickled and he had gaps in his teeth. He was a real person. Not just a picture in a newspaper or on a monitor. And that is what I lost. I lost my dad." Amelia said that "most of all, I am devastated that my unborn child and any future children will never have my dad as a grandfa- ther. They will never have the chance for sleepovers, special day trips, pool days, learning to love plants and to feel all of the love I did when growing up." Skarica told the court there was another hero in this case. With that, he asked Det. Troy Ashbaugh of the Hamilton Police Service to stand. Ashbaugh, an expert in- terrogator who is brought in to interview the accused in many homicide cases, looked overwhelmed as he got to his feet. When Taylor was ar- rested in January 2019, Ashbaugh conducted an eight-hour interview, drawing out much of the evidence that laid the groundwork for the con- viction. Skarica said in his 40 years as a lawyer and judge, "that interview is the most skilled and pro- fessional interview I have ever seen." Taylor was in debt and he kept it a secret from ev- eryone, especially his wife, Evangelia. He lied about it, the Crown team of Janet Booy and Mark Dean proved, including to his best friend, his brother and police. There was no evidence the money was spent on luxuries. Nor was it used for gambling, drugs or an affair, the trial heard. The Taylors just lived above their means, racking up credit card debts that accrued tens of thousands of dollars in interest. The trial heard Evange- lia was diagnosed with de- pression. Taylor testified he lied about money to in- sulate her from the reality of their finances. Evangelia testified she and Taylor are separated. He testified he still loves her. Evangelia sat in the middle of the courtroom throughout the trial. When the verdict was read out she sobbed loudly. Skarica told Taylor he was likely the cause of his wife's depression. "We heard that your wife suffered from depres- sion," Skarica said. She had zero control over mon- ey. For years, despite hav- ing a full-time job, she had no bank card or a credit card. "You inflicted great pain on her as well," Skarica said. "She's still in love with you in my opinion." Evangelia gave Skarica the middle finger. Throughout all this, Taylor behaved as he had during the trial. He sat qui- etly at a table with his law- yers, Jennifer Penman and Kristen Dulysh. When Skarica asked if he'd like to say anything, Taylor mumbled some- thing about not having anything prepared, then said, "No." Shortly after that he was led away to begin serv- ing his two automatic life sentences, served concur- rently, with no chance of parole for 25 years. "Unfortunately, I have to make it concurrent," Skarica said, citing a re- cent Supreme Court of Canada decision that struck down consecutive life sentences. If that op- tion was available, Skarica said he would make Taylor serve one life sentence fol- lowed by another. The judge saved his fi- nal words for the jury, pos- ing aloud a question they may be asking themselves. "How could anyone do something like this?" NEWS Continued from page 5 'HOW COULD ANYONE DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?': JUDGE