A man charged with the murder of 25-year-old Emerson Sprung has learned his fate.
Matthew McQuarrie, 34, has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years following his sentencing hearing in Owen Sound on Monday, June 17, 2024.
Sprung's body was found buried in a shallow grave in a local park in Meaford in May of 2020.
McQuarrie was initially charged with first degree murder, but later agreed to plead guilty to second degree murder a few days into the trial proceedings.
According to CTV, the court heard evidence that McQuarrie invited Sprung to the park in Meaford in the days prior to Sprung's body being found with multiple stab wounds on May 6 of 2020.
McQuarrie had stated to the court during the trial that he had met Sprung while the two were in police custody together, and McQuarrie was convinced that Sprung had inappropriately touched his then 4-year-old son. McQuarrie did report the alleged incident to police but there was insufficient evidence that any such incident had occurred.
Investigators had recovered evidence off McQuarrie's cellphone which included texts admitting to the murder and pictures of McQuarrie holding the weapon that was used to kill Sprung.