Hay River man should serve 15 years for manslaughter, says Crown; victim's family lays out impact of crime
CBC
During the second day of a sentencing hearing for a Hay River man convicted of manslaughter and robbery, Crown prosecutor Duane Praught argued Levi Cayen should serve 15 years for killing Alex Norwegian in 2017, and 10 years for robbing him.
In March, a jury convicted Cayen of manslaughter instead of murder. Before his trial began, Cayen pleaded guilty to robbery.
In Yellowknife Tuesday, Norwegian was remembered in victim impact statements as a jokester, a talented guitarist and as someone who loved to play with his nieces, nephews and younger siblings.
Norwegian's girlfriend described him bringing her tea in the middle of the night to ease her panic attacks.
His aunt recalled him encouraging her kids to climb the tallest tree in her yard.
His father told the court about how he ended all of his phone calls with: "Stay cool, I love you."
N.W.T. Supreme Court Justice Shannon Smallwood reviewed 14 victim impact statements on the effects of losing Norwegian.
Cayen is one of four offenders involved in beating, robbing and leaving Norwegian to die on a remote road outside of Hay River, N.W.T.
One victim impact statement described sentences for two of Cayen's co-offenders, Sasha and Tyler Cayen, as having made the family "lose trust in the justice system."
Sasha Cayen was sentenced to three years and seven months for manslaughter and Tyler Cayen was sentenced to two years for accessory to manslaughter for their respective roles in Norwegian's killing.
James Thomas was also convicted in Norwegian's death. Last year, Justice Andrew Mahar convicted Thomas of second-degree murder and robbery. Mahar sentenced him to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years, a sentence Thomas is appealing.
The four were convicted after Norwegian was attacked and robbed on a remote road on the Kátł'odeeche First Nation on Dec. 27, 2017. Norwegian later died of hypothermia after he was left with a fractured skull in a windowless car in -20 C temperatures.
On Tuesday, Praught listed numerous aggravating factors that he said results in a high level of moral culpability for the crime: the planning and premeditation involved, luring Norwegian out to the remote road, how brutal the attack was, and the steel pipe and rope Cayen used during the assault.
Praught said the fact that Cayen, along with co-offender Thomas, took Norwegian's jacket and phone "displays a callous indifference to his wellbeing after the offence."
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