Shannon Burgess's Body Was Buried in Her Own Backyard for Seven Months — Here's What Happened

It's no secret that Canada can get brutally cold during the winter. This is something 29-year-old Joshua Burgess used to his advantage back in November 2014. That's when his wife, 25-year-old Shannon Madill Burgess, disappeared from their home in Calgary. The couple had only been married for six months and reportedly had no history of domestic violence in their relationship.

Shannon was last seen on Nov. 27 and was reported missing when she didn't show up for a family gathering a few days later. "We’re all very optimistic that my sister will be returned to us safe," said her sister, Erin Madill. "It is unbelievably unlikely for her to disappear and not actually contact anybody." Seven months later, Joshua would be arrested and charged with murdering his wife. Where is he now? Here's what we know.

Three years after Shannon was killed, Joshua was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the first 10 years of his sentence, per the CBC. There was no trial for Joshua, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Part of Joshua's plea deal involved sparing Shannon's family from hearing the details of her death. Court of Queen's Bench Justice Pat Sullivan said they were "gruesome, painful, and undignified."

This didn't keep Shannon's family from attending the hearing so they could provide victim impact statements. "I've lost myself," said her sister Erin. "I lost my lifelong best friend." Shannon's father, David, spoke about his daughter's love of acting and how her death left him feeling lost and without purpose. Despite that, David said Shannon would want "justice, not revenge," because she wasn't "vindictive" or "mean-spirited."

According to Global News, Joshua and Shannon's short marriage was already over, and the two were dating other people when she was killed. Shannon had gotten a job in Edmonton and was planning on moving out soon. On the morning of Nov. 27, 2014, she was watching television in the living room when Joshua came downstairs and sat next to her.

Although they were headed their separate ways, Joshua and Shannon started getting physical, until an argument kicked off. At one point, Shannon told Joshua that she regretted marrying him. That's when he got violent and strangled Shannon first with his hands and then with a belt.

Joshua put Shannon's body into a plastic bin and then placed that on the patio, where the cold Canadian winter kept his wife's body from decomposing. Once spring arrived and the ground thawed, Joshua buried the bin with Shannon in it, in their backyard. After an investigation that lasted seven months, police knocked on Josh's door with an arrest warrant in July 2015. He confessed to killing Shannon but not before trying to slit his own throat.

Beyond the heartbreak Shannon's family felt by losing her, they also felt betrayed by Joshua's lies. "He kept us dangling in limbo for seven horrifying months," said Shannon's mother Lisa Madill during her victim impact statement.

"I'm very sorry for the vows that I made, that I promised to look after her, no matter what the circumstances were," said Joshua to Shannon's family. "I failed her in that."