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A murder trial witness who lied to protect a killer she loved admitted to perjury in Ottawa court, but the lengthy legal saga surrounding her lies to police, the court and a grieving family are far from over.

The witness admitted to disposing key evidence, lying repeatedly to police and in court, and inappropriately communicating with one of the killer’s lawyers while she was a Crown witness on the stand.

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Yet on Friday, in a dramatic turn of events that threatens to jeopardize her plea, the witness admitted to perjury in exchange for a sentence that just isn’t possible.

The Crown and the witness’ lawyer jointly submitted a conditional sentence for the witness that would see her serve no jail time in exchange for a guilty plea for perjury. The trouble is, perjury isn’t an offence for which a conditional sentence can be imposed.

The plea will either stand, be entered to a different set of charges, or be struck all together with the matter proceeding to trial. Though there is a plea on record and the witness had admitted to her crime, the Citizen is not yet naming her in the event she does eventually seek a trial by jury.