Tears were shed in the Whitehorse courthouse Thursday as a Yukon Supreme Court judge read out some of the victim impact statements written by the family members of murdered Carmacks woman Evangeline Billy.

"Evangeline was liked and loved by all the people she met,” her mother wrote. "I miss her so much my heart hurts.”

Many of Billy's family members wrote about the shock of losing her so suddenly, and the destructive ripples her violent death has sent through the community she left behind.

They wrote about turning to drink as a way to cope, or simply fall asleep at night; about the anger, fear and lack of trust they have all felt since her murder in June 2008 in Whitehorse.

Billy's eldest daughter wrote: "I cry all the time and I hurt because she's no longer with me.”

The nine-year-old girl wept as her words were read out to the courtroom. She promised in her letter to take care of her six-year-old twin siblings, but said she has nightmares about not being able to do so.

Also in the courtroom was convicted murderer Alicia Murphy. She listened as prosecution and defence lawyers gave their opinions on how long the 29-year-old Champagne-Aishihik woman should spend in jail before being eligible for parole.

Last month, a jury found Murphy guilty of the second-degree murder of Billy. She will eventually be sent to a federal penitentiary, but has been waiting for her sentence at Whitehorse Correctional Centre since the guilty verdict was handed down Oct. 27.

Her behaviour at the local jail was one of the things highlighted during prosecutor Noel Sinclair's sentencing submissions to Justice Ron Veale, the judge who oversaw the case and will decide how much of the mandatory life sentence Murphy must serve before being considered for parole.

Murphy has been in jail since her arrest on June 23, 2008, a day after Billy's lifeless body was found floating in the Yukon River. She had suffered massive wounds to her head, but ultimately died of drowning, according to a pathologist's report.

During the time Murphy has been in jail, she has been found guilty of 11 violations of jailhouse rules, including disruptive behaviour, receiving and passing on contraband (marijuana and tobacco), fighting, bullying other inmates, and threatening one of her dorm mates.

The final infraction resulted in a criminal charge of uttering threats after a guard overheard Murphy threaten to smash another inmate's head in, Sinclair told the judge.

As a result of her behaviour in jail, Murphy is not allowed to have direct contact with visitors and has spent time in segregation.

Sinclair also told the judge about a violent incident six months before Murphy was charged with murder.

In December 2007, police in Carcross were called to a domestic dispute at the home of one of Murphy's friends. There, they found Murphy had stabbed her common-law husband twice in the leg.

Two witnesses and the victim told police Murphy had followed her partner to a friend's house, drunk and angry, and threatened him with a knife.

When the friends tried to call police, she pulled the phone out of the wall.

When they tried to leave to get help, she said she would cut her partner's throat if they left the apartment, Sinclair recounted.

At the time of her arrest for that assault, Murphy told police, "I used to be somebody, now I'm just drunk and crazy. I'm going to hell. I deserve to go to hell.”

She pleaded guilty to the assault during Thursday's hearing.

Sinclair pointed out that Murphy had been under a court order to keep the peace and stay sober the night she killed Billy. She was drinking, she was taking drugs, and she was seen carrying a knife that night, Sinclair said – all things the court had ordered her not to do.

Then she murdered another person.

Murphy's crime is at the very high end of second-degree murder, Sinclair said. The Crown had originally wanted to pursue a first-degree murder conviction because there was evidence Murphy had killed Billy during a robbery, he added.

The murder was particularly heinous because Murphy had the opportunity to get help for Billy after beating her, Sinclair said, pointing out that the wounds to Billy's head were not life-threatening.

Instead, Sinclair said, "Alicia Murphy took an incapacitated person, dragged her to the water, and drowned her.”

He recommended that Murphy wait at least 14 years before being eligible for parole.

Murphy's lawyer, Gordon Coffin, refuted Sinclair's characterization of his client.

He described Murphy's difficult childhood, marred early on by her father's suicide and made more difficult by uncaring and bigoted foster parents.

At 13, she started dating a man who introduced her to alcohol, drugs and crime. That same man moved in with her family when Murphy was 15.

The relationship ended two years later when it was revealed he had been sexually abusing a young girl. She never recovered from the guilt, Coffin said, and "from then on, her use of alcohol and drugs increased.”

Murphy has two children, aged two and six, with whom she has a very good relationship, Coffin said.

They were visiting their grandparents when Murphy was arrested and have stayed with the elderly couple ever since.

Impact statements from Murphy's parents said at their age, they are having trouble taking care of the children.

Justice Veale asked why the children are not with their father, with whom they lived in the past, but no one in the courtroom stood to answer that question.

"I suppose that isn't for us to deal with at this point,” the judge said.

In addressing the actual murder, Coffin, said the judge should not assume that Murphy beat Billy as mercilessly as Sinclair suggested.

He said it could have been a mutual fight, and that the final act of putting Billy face-down in the river was reckless but was not intended to kill the woman.

Coffin suggested Murphy be eligible for parole in at least 10 years, 14 years at the most.

Veale reserved his decision. He will hand down the final sentence next Tuesday.