Sentence in Derksen slaying set for April

The man convicted in the freezing death of Winnipeg schoolgirl Candace Derksen is to be sentenced April 27.

Mark Edward Grant, 47, was found guilty of second-degree murder by a Queen's Bench jury on Feb. 18, following a five-week trial that focused on DNA evidence.

The second-degree murder conviction carries with it no chance of parole for a minimum of 10 years, but the court could elect to raise that as high as 25 years.

It will be up to chief Justice Glenn Joyal to set the length of the term.

Derksen was just 13 and on her way home from school in November 1984 when she disappeared.

Her frozen body was found six weeks later inside a brickyard shed not far from her family's East Kildonan home.

Derksen's death remained a public mystery until May 2007 when police came forward with new forensic evidence linking Grant to the murder scene.

Grant's defence lawyer, Saul Simmonds, has already said his client intends to file an appeal of the conviction.