The woman who killed Gerald Dawson is going back to prison after being retried and found guilty of the four-year-old crime.

Karen Rodrigue was found guilty of second-degree murder last Saturday for Dawson's stabbing death in June 2004.

On Tuesday afternoon, she was sentenced by Deputy Justice John Vertes of the Yukon Supreme Court, to life imprisonment without a formal chance of parole for 10 years.

However, Rodrigue has already served four years since her arrest in 2004, so will be eligible for parole in 2014.

"Nothing this court can do will repair the shattered lives of the victim's family," the judge began, addressing a courtroom packed with friends and family members of the deceased Whitehorse man.

He said he hoped Rodrigue's apology, which she gave to the court without turning to look at the people listening in the gallery, would do something to heal the wounds left by her crime.

But Shirley Dawson, Gerald's daughter, said today she could not accept Rodrigue's words of remorse.

"I can't see it being authentic," she told the Star.

"I think if someone had remorse, they wouldn't be glaring at us like that."

Throughout the trial, Rodrigue rarely looked at anyone but the judge or the person on the witness stand. Shirley was the prosecution's first witness.

In delivering his sentencing decision, Vertes acknowledged Rodrigue's plea of guilty to manslaughter as a positive step toward taking responsibility for the crime.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Karen Rodrigue is not the same person she was when she was arrested in 2004," he continued.

He was referring to the fact that since her incarceration, she has stopped using drugs, earned her Grade 12 equivalency and become a leader in the inmate community.

The judge also acknowledged the deceased's reputation as a loving family man and a good friend.

"No matter what anyone thinks of these allegations (of attacking Rodrigue before she killed him), Gerald Dawson was obviously considered a kindhearted man."

Shirley said afterward she was thankful for that nod to her father as "a kind, giving, thoughtful person," but not the the credit given to Rodrigue for her actions once in prison, especially her leadership of a group called the Native Sisterhood.

"It should be taken for what it is," she said, "a bunch of criminal women in a federal penitentiary; it's not this glamourous group."

Shirley said her own grandmother was a member of a native sisterhood, but one formed by women outside of prison, of their own accord, who did community work.

"Of course she had time to do all this stuff; she's been confined. I think things would be different if she hadn't been in jail."

Gerald's daughter said she and her family were hoping the judge would sentence Rodrigue to at least 12 years without chance of parole, based on the jury's recommendation of 10 to 15 years.

"I'm not satisfied, and the rest of the family's not happy with it either," she said.

At the end of his decision, Vertes reiterated he could not repair the damage done to the Dawson family, "nor is there anything I can do to repair your life," he told Rodrigue.

"Keep up the good efforts you have made."