Karl Werendowicz reflects on conviction of aunt Diane's killer
The family of Diane Werendowicz say they are more relieved now than they were the first time Robert Badgerow was convicted of her murder.
"I can't even describe how I feel now," Werendowicz's nephew, Karl Werendowicz, said outside the Kitchener, Ont., courthouse after the verdict.
"I feel much happier already. Why? Because it's all over," he said. "She'll always be with us, but this time I won't be as upset as I have been, so, we look forward to tomorrow."
Diane Werendowicz, 23, was killed in June 1981 as she walked home from a bar in Hamilton. Her body was found a day later by children playing in a ravine. It took until 1998 for police to charge Badgerow after identifying him through DNA samples.
The first trial in 2001 resulted in a conviction. Badgerow served 11 years until subsequent appeals and mistrials led to the retrial in 2016.
Karl Werendowicz attended the verdict and sentencing with his mother, Lorraine. His father Steve, Diane's brother, was not in court.
"My dad is very happy," Karl Werendowicz said.