It was standing room only in the Sydney Street courtroom for the sentencing of 30 year old Jason Getson of Martha Avenue in the stabbing death last May of his estranged wife, 28 year old Melanie Davis in the parking lot of a Rothesay Avenue tanning salon. Prosecutor Jim McAvity called it brutal and senseless. Mr. Justice Hugh McLellen described the killing as a nightmare and horror for Melanie's parents that words can't convey. The judge accepted a joint submission from the defense and prosecution that Getson, who receives an automatic sentence of life in prison, serve 20 years before being eligible for parole. McAvity calls it the worst murder he has ever prosecuted.
He says with 26 different stab wounds Davis was essentially killed twice, once by having her throat slit and once by having the knife go through her heart.
After sentencing, some people in the courtroom were yelling insults at Getson as he was being led away. When he smirked at them, there were outbursts of anger. Defense lawyer Rod MacDonald told the court Getson lost it when Davis made clear to him their marraige was finally over. The court heard Davis was not only stabbed 26 times but Getson also kicked and punched her while she lay in a pool of blood outside the tanning salon. Getson bought a pair of hunting knives just two days before the savage attack.
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