Standing before a courtroom of about 20 people Thursday, Dean Boucher and Mark Lange were sentenced to long prison terms by Yukon Supreme Court Justice Leigh Gower for the second-degree murder of Bob Olson.

Boucher will have to serve 15 years of his sentence before he's eligible for parole, while Lange will be required to serve 10 before he can apply to be released on parole.

A second-degree murder charge carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. However, it is up to the sentencing judge to decide the number of years which must be served, within the 10- to 25-year range, before the convicted person is eligible for parole.

It was only minutes after being sentenced that Boucher, 32, was ordered to leave the courtroom and was escorted out by corrections officers and a police officer.

The order came after Boucher, who has been representing himself since being convicted, had continually asked if he could address the court.

Gower repeatedly turned down the request.

'The time for you to say something is over,' said Gower.

As he left the courtroom, Boucher continued: 'All lies. You (ever) hear about fresh evidence, bitch?'

At his last court appearance to make sentencing submissions, Boucher told the court he was responsible for Olson's Dec. 23, 2004 death, with Lange's involvement limited to driving the truck away from the scene with Olson in the back.

'I beat my uncle to death and I don't even; I don't even remember the fight starting,' Boucher told the court at that appearance.

Yesterday, Gower limited to evidence before the jury during the four-week trial concluded in his findings that Boucher was primarily responsible for the beating of Olson, causing him injury that would likely cause his death and being reckless about it.

Boucher and Lange had been drinking together before they went to Olson's Caribou Hotel on Dec. 23, 2004. Boucher and Olson got into a fight after Olson wouldn't lend Boucher his truck to go to Whitehorse for drugs.

While they were fighting, Lange did nothing to stop the fight, Gower noted at the sentencing.

At some point, Lange attempted to hold down Olson, who was 64 years old at the time, kicking him. Gower noted, though, Lange's kicks were not enough to cause injury to Olson.

Lange also put Olson on his side as he was laying there.

While Boucher looked upstairs for money to steal, then continued to steal artwork from the wall, he told Lange to look for things, with Lange stealing some beer from the bar.

Boucher got Olson's truck and drove it around to the backside of the hotel. As Boucher dragged Olson to the truck, Lange had an opportunity to leave and get help but didn't, Gower noted.

Instead, Lange helped put Olson in the back of the truck with only a jacket over him and then drove the truck toward Whitehorse, making no attempts to stop at the nursing station or the Carcross RCMP detachment.

They stopped on the way to Whitehorse, with Boucher attempting to resuscitate Olson by doing CPR. At that point, they realized Olson was dead.

Boucher and Lange continued to drive, stopping in the Wolf Creek area of Whitehorse, where Boucher dumped the body, with Lange helping to cover it with snow.

They walked to McCrae after the truck got stuck in snow. When they couldn't get a tow truck to get the vehicle, they called a cab from the Petro Canada station, with Boucher eating a sandwich with his hands stained with blood.

Asked about the blood, Boucher said he had been in a fight with his sister. Lange backed up the story by saying Boucher's sister was tough.

The pair stayed with a friend of Lange's for a few days until Boucher turned himself in.

Gower pointed to numerous factors in handing down the sentences for each.

In Boucher's favour, Gower noted that Boucher had turned himself in before the RCMP suspected his involvement. He made an effort in good faith to help police find Olson's body though he was unable to.

As well, the man had a difficult and dysfunctional upbringing, had made attempts to get help for his substance addictions in November 2004, and has been a well-behaved inmate at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre for the last 10 months.

Boucher also has the support of his mother and family, seems genuinely interested in maintaining a relationship with his son and, at the age of 33, is still relatively young.

The judge also found though that among the aggravating factors was that the death was a 'brutal and senseless beating of a 64-year-old man' with a total of 15 blows struck.

Essentially, said Gower, Boucher beat Olson to a pulp because he lost his temper.

He also robbed Olson after beating him, stole his truck and placed him in the back with no protection against the elements.

There was also an attempt to conceal evidence by hiding the body and coming up with a story about a fight with his sister.

The vast majority of his statements to police have been lies and he's also admitted to lying under oath, said Gower, who pointed as well to Boucher's' lengthy criminal record. His high risk to re-offend is made worse by his antisocial behaviour, said the judge.

In sentencing Lange, Gower said while Lange drove the truck to Whitehorse and helped conceal the body, he also pointed out that Lange assisted police in providing three statements and a re-enactment in Carcross.

Lange could have lied and blamed Boucher for the death, but did not, said Gower.

The judge also gave Lange full credit for turning himself in before he was clearly identified as a suspect and readily drafted a letter of apology to Olson's family.

Lange may also be a good candidate for rehabilitation and has well-defined career aspirations and a desire to remain clean and sober.

Gower also detailed the backgrounds of the two aboriginal men before rendering his sentence.

Outside the courtroom following the sentencing, Lange's lawyer, Andre Roothman, said he was pleased Gower opted for the minimum parole eligibility period for his client.

'I'm extremely happy with the sentence. That's what we argued for,' he said, though he noted Lange will be branded a murderer for the rest of his life.

While Roothman had been hopeful that Boucher's earlier statement could result in an appeal, he said it's not likely to happen now after going to visit Boucher to get an affidavit on the new evidence.

'The version changed to total amnesia,' said Roothman, suggesting Boucher's statement that the murder was primarily his fault was done for his own means as a way to show remorse.

While Crown prosecutor John Phelps had sought 15 years' parole ineligibility for both, he said overall, the sentencing was satisfactory.