A jury in Kelowna, B.C., has found Matthew Foerster guilty of murder in the first degree in the case of Armstrong teen Taylor Van Diest.
The 18-year-old girl was found beaten with fatal wounds by the side of railroad tracks on Halloween night in 2011.
Foerster, originally based in Cherryville and now 28, has admitted responsibility for causing the injuries that killed Van Diest, but pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder.
On Thursday in Kelowna, both Crown and defence gave their closing submissions to the jury, which began deliberating Friday afternoon.
The Crown argued Foerster followed Van Diest to a secluded area of Armstrong intending to rape her. When Van Diest fought back and screamed, Foerster smashed in her head with a heavy flashlight.
Foerster's defence lawyer says her client only wanted consensual sex with Van Diest. But when a scuffle ensued, Foerster pushed the Armstrong teen, causing her to hit her head on a steel pipe on the ground.
The victim's mother Marie Van Diest called that theory laughable.
"It think it sounds a little too far fetched and unrealistic for anyone to believe that it could actually happen that way. It was what it was, and I think she'd be hard pressed to sway that jury otherwise."
She told CBC News she was confident her family would get justice.
Earlier in the trial, the judge instructed the jury that a killing committed during a sexual assault or attempted sexual assault is considered first-degree murder.
In Canada, a conviction of either first- or second-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence.