Killer says drug dealers owned him

Mark Anaka doesn't deny he killed Crystal Gagnon, but claims he was pressured into doing it.

Anaka, 33, has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years for the Gagnon murder.

The court heard how police received a tip in September 2007 that Gagnon's body was in Mill Creek behind the Parkinson Rec Centre and that Anaka was the killer.

Police found the body lodged underneath a beaver dam and focused their investigation on Anaka who was in jail on drug related charges.

Anaka confessed to an undercover cop posing as his cell mate and was charged with first degree murder.

He pled guilty to second degree murder, but insists that he committed the crime under duress.

The court heard how Anaka and Gagnon were heavily addicted to crack cocaine and that two drug dealers wanted Gagnon dead.

On the day of the killing, Anaka and Gagnon were in his car with the two drug dealers who dropped them off at Mill Creek. According to Anaka, the dealers instructed him to have sex with her and then kill her. The two sat down beside the creek where Anaka grabbed a broken cooler bottle and stabbed Gagnon repeatedly in the throat before dumping her body in the creek.

Anaka, who was on a crack binge and hadn't slept for days, claims he had to kill Gagnon because the drug dealers "owned him" and he was paranoid that Gagnon might have been ordered by the dealers to kill him.

The two drug dealers were questioned by police but never charged after denying that they ordered Anaka to kill Gagnon. Their identities were not revealed in court.

After the murder, Anaka followed instructions to get rid of his clothes and take a shower at the Parkinson Rec Centre where he met an unidentified man who said that "his debt was paid."

The Crown and Defence indicated to the judge that Anaka should be eligible after 10 years of serving his sentence because Anaka, "did not desire Gagnon's death" and that he committed the crime under duress.

Anaka does not have a criminal record.

He has been in custody for two years, meaning he will be eligible for parole in eight.

Anaka apologized to the Gagnon family saying, "I've been wanting to speak to the Gagnon family. I feel terrible for the devastation that I've caused them. I've ruined many lives and I don't know if I will ever be able to forgive myself."

Gagnon leaves behind a young daughter.