Michel Cadotte, who was convicted of manslaughter in the 2017 killing of his sick wife, Jocelyne Lizotte, was sentenced to two years in prison, less a day, on Tuesday.
In February, Cadotte was found guilty of killing his wife, who was suffering from Alzheimer's, by smothering her with a pillow.
Defence lawyers argued their client was in a disturbed state of mind and acted impulsively. Cadotte had said he killed Lizotte because he couldn't bear to her suffering any longer.
Meanwhile, prosecutors felt that Cadotte had plotted to kill Lizotte, his wife of 19 years.
"It's a tragedy. As a society, Jocelyne Lizotte wasn't the only victim," said defence attorney Elfriede Duclervil. "She had sisters, she had brothers. She had a husband, she had children and what brought it on was a disease and the inability of the system to take care of her. Michel Cadotte gave her all the lovely that he could. All he wanted was for her to be in a facility where she could get help for her condition."
One of Lizotte's sisters accused Cadotte of committing the murder in cold blood, while a brother said Cadotte had acted in his own interest rather than his wife's.
Both the defence and Crown said they'll review the decision and consider an appeal.
While reading the sentence, the judge said the decision was among the most difficult of her career. While the Crown had asked for eight years in prison, defence lawyers had recommended a sentence of between six months and a year.
Second-degree murder carries a life sentence without possibility of parole for at least 10 years while there is no minimum sentence for a manslaughter conviction, unless a firearm was used in the crime.
With files from The Canadian Press
