'Till death do us part,' Alberta woman tells undercover cop she hired to kill husband

Meghan Grant · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 17, 2025 5:48 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

When Audra Lynne Symbalisty utilized the operation "till decease bash america part," she was successful a state presumption parking batch successful Carstairs, trying to prosecute a deed antheral to termination her hubby connected the couple's 18th wedding anniversary. 

Audra Symbalisty wanted to "part" with her hubby by arranging for his death, but she had nary thought she'd engaged an undercover constabulary officer, not a deed man-for-hire.

On Monday, Symbalisty pleaded blameworthy to counselling an undercover constabulary serviceman to perpetrate the execution of her spouse, Don Symbalisty.

The 60-year-old grandma sat successful the prisoner's container successful a navy bluish jail-issued sweatsuit, with her greying blonde hairsbreadth piled connected apical of her head. 

'What you've done to your family'

Court of King's Bench Justice Michele Hollins accepted a associated submission for a five-year situation sentence. With recognition for the clip she has already served, Symbalisty has astir 3 and a fractional years near connected her sentence. 

In handing down the sentence, Hollins addressed Symbalisty directly. 

"Part of your healing, I expect, volition beryllium coming look to look with what you've done to your family," said the judge. 

Details of the transgression were work aloud successful tribunal from an agreed connection of facts (ASF) prepared by prosecutors Elaine Ng and Ryan Ziegler and defence lawyer Allan Fay. 

Justice Hollins heard that successful 2021, Don Symbalisty purchased a beingness security argumentation which would person paid his woman astir $500,000 successful the lawsuit of his death. 

Acquaintance goes to RCMP 

Don was a long-haul trucker who often drove betwixt Canada and the U.S. for work. 

By aboriginal 2024, the couple's narration had deteriorated and "the 2 were inattentive and verbally abusive to 1 another," according to the ASF.

Over a six-week play successful aboriginal 2024, Audra Symbalisty had respective conversations astir her hubby with an acquaintance who took his concerns to Didsbury RCMP connected Feb. 12, 2024.

His connection to constabulary led to a two-and-a-half week probe involving an undercover constabulary serviceman (UCO) posing arsenic a declaration slayer who was introduced to Audra implicit substance message.

The 2 made a program to conscionable successful Carstairs connected Feb. 24, 2024.

Facebook day post

That time was the Symbalisty's 18th wedding day and Audra posted to Facebook: "18 years. So hard to believe. Happy Anniversary Hon. Can't hold for our beauteous supper date. Whoot whoot."

Meanwhile, she was successful a state presumption parking lot, offering an undercover serviceman $5,000 to termination her husband. 

During the meet-up, Symbalisty told the UCO her hubby was "a problem" who she wanted "gone."

"She did not privation 'anything temporary,' 'any infirmary stuff,' oregon 'any breached legs' — she wanted it to beryllium 'just permanent,'" reads the ASF.

Symbalisty confirmed she wanted to prosecute a "hit man."

"I've watched tons of antithetic movies, similar wherever you prosecute radical arsenic a deed antheral and antithetic things similar that," she told the UCO. 

She expressed that she did not privation the sidesplitting to hap astatine the household location and told the UCO that she didn't privation him to stock excessively galore details of the planned killing.

"The archetypal idiosyncratic that's going to get questioned and crap is me," she told the officer. "I don't privation to cognize thing astir anything. Everything volition beryllium a surprise."

'The execution machine'

In the people of the conversation, Symbalisty gave her husband's name, concern and outlined his trucking question routes successful bid to assistance facilitate the murder.

The 2 met again the adjacent day, this clip successful the Olds Canadian Tire parking lot. Symbalisty handed implicit $1,000 successful currency — an agreed-upon 20 per cent deposit — arsenic good arsenic photos of her hubby and his truck, "so helium would cognize with certainty who to kill," according to the ASF. 

She told the UCO she wanted Don's decease to look accidental oregon self-inflicted and that she wanted the sidesplitting to go a cold-case murder. 

The UCO told Symbalisty that erstwhile helium received the wealth for the declaration sidesplitting "the execution instrumentality was going" and helium would either "put a bullet" successful the victim's caput oregon "run him over."

Symbalisty replied, "got it."

He gave her respective chances to backmost out, but each time Symbalisty confirmed she wanted him to transportation retired the plan. 

'A fractured marriage'

Three days later, Symbalisty was arrested and charged by RCMP and has been successful custody since her arrest. 

Before her arrest, Audra Symbalisty was a hairdresser successful Carstairs and besides sold homeopathic products.

The erstwhile mates had a blended household of big children. 

While the nonstop motive can't beryllium proven by the Crown, Fay noted that aft Symbalisty's 39-year-old girl died pursuing a conflict with addictions, "a fractured matrimony became adjacent much fractured."

Audra built a mantlepiece memorial for her girl which "elicited unkind comments from Mr. Symbalisty," Fay told the court.

"She appreciates that what she did was incorrect to its precise halfway … and unforgivable," said Fay. "She accepts she indispensable carnivore the consequences of that."

'My encephalon hijacked me'

When fixed the accidental to code the court, Symbalisty said she'd been "suffering successful my ain silence" and "did thing I ne'er thought I would do."

"It was similar my encephalon hijacked me," she said. "I privation I could spell backmost successful time."

Symbalisty's two daughters wrote unfortunate interaction statements detailing their devastation. 

'Goodbye, Audra'

Daughter Katrina Lisoway listed immoderate of the questions she's been near to ponder. 

"Did you truly deliberation you were truthful astute you would outsmart the strategy and get distant with this?" she asked her mother. 

"How and wherefore could a mother, a grandmother, beryllium truthful selfish and beryllium truthful consenting to sacrifice everything?" 

Don Symbalisty was not successful tribunal for his erstwhile spouse's plea but helium wrote a connection which was work aloud by the prosecution. 

Don wrote that portion helium had "mixed emotions" and felt "betrayed astatine the highest level" helium besides said helium forgives Audra. 

"I realized successful these circumstances I bash not cognize what Audra is susceptible of," wrote Don. 

"It's finished. Goodbye, Audra."