CARSTAIRS - A Carstairs woman convicted of trying to hire an undercover police officer to murder her husband in February 2024 put a lot of effort into planning the offence prior to her arrest, a Crown prosecutor says.
Audra Lynne Symbalisty, 60, entered a guilty plea to counselling to commit murder before Justice Michele Hollins in Calgary Court of King’s Bench on March 17. She was sentenced to five years in prison, with 41 months still to be served.
Crown prosecutor Ryan Ziegler told the court the accused deliberately planned her crime.
“This required a high degree of planning and premeditation,” Ziegler said. “This wasn’t spur of the moment decision. This was something where she discussed to conceal her identity, as well as to make suggestions about possible deniability. And she was presented with numerous opportunities to abandon this endeavour.”
According to a statement of facts agreed to by the Crown and defence, over a six-week period in January and February 2024, Symbalisty had multiple conversations with an acquaintance about the intended victim.
As a result of those conversations, the acquaintance went to the Didsbury RCMP detachment on Feb. 12 and provided a statement to police.
The RCMP’s Southern Alberta General Investigation Section then entered into two-and-a-half week operation involving Symbalisty.
During the operation, an undercover police officer (who cannot be named), posing as a contract killer, was introduced to Symbalisty by text message. The officer then communicated with the woman by phone, text and in person throughout late February.
The officer and Symbalisty met inside the accused’s car outside the Shell gas station in Carstairs on Feb. 24.
“During this meeting, Symbalisty told the officer that she had a ‘problem’ and she wanted the ‘problem’ to not return. She wanted the ‘problem’ to be ‘gone’. Symbalisty then confirmed that the problem was the victim,” the statement reads.
“She told the officer that she did not want ‘anything temporary’, ‘any hospital stuff’ or ‘any broke legs’. She wanted it to be ‘just permanent’ and ‘permanent accidental’. She used the euphemism of “’til death do us part” to confirm that she wanted the victim dead.”
During the conversations she “confirmed that she was looking to hire a hit man”.
She gave the officer the victim’s name, occupation, and outlined the travel routes he generally took as a long-haul truck driver.
“This was so that (the officer) would know the victim’s identify and were he could be killed. Symbalisty told (the officer) that the victim’s murder could not happen at their residence.”
She told the officer that she “did not want too much information about how the victim was killed because ‘the first person that’s going to get questioned and shit is me. I don’t want to know anything about anything. Everything will be a surprise’.”
She offered to pay the officer $5,000 in exchange for the victim’s murder.
On Feb. 25, the officer and Symbalisty met in the Canadian Tire parking lot in Olds.
During this meeting, she paid the officer $1,000 in cash as a deposit for the victim’s murder. She also provided photographs of the victim and his vehicle.
“Symbalisty provided these photographs so he (officer) would know with certainty who to kill. She told (the officer) divorce was not an option and insisted that she wanted the victim’s death to look accidental or self-inflicted, and further that she wanted the death to be a ‘cold case’ so the murder would not be traced back to her.”
The officer told Symbalisty that once he received the money for the contract killing, “the murder machine was going’ and that he would either “put a bullet” in the victim’s head or “run him over”. To this, Symbalisty responded, “Got it.”
During each of the meetings with the officer, Symbalisty “confirmed that she was sure she wanted the victim’s murder.”
“Symbalisty deliberately encouraged and/or actively inducted or advocated for (the officer) to murder the victim,” the statement concludes.
“She did this by repeatedly asking or earnestly asking for or seeking or inviting or making a request of (the officer) to murder the victim, urging (the officer) to murder the victim, and/or instigating the victim’s murder or persuading (the officer) to murder the victim.”
Symbalisty had purchased a life insurance policy in 2021 which would have paid her about $475,000 in the event of her husband’s death, court heard.
Court also heard that the husband “had made several cruel comments about the death of Symbalisty’s daughter” prior to the offence.
Justice Hollins accepted a joint Crown-defence proposed sentence of five years in prison, less time in custody credit of 576 days.
The justice also imposed a lifetime weapons ban and a DNA order.
