'Nicholas was the bond that held my family': Murder victim's family seeks justice

The Calgary man who killed a nursing student in an unprovoked attack on a CTrain platform will be sentenced next month, but ahead of learning his fate — the victim's family had their say.

Keeton Gagnon, 43, was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2017 death of Nicholas Nwonye, 46, a father of three who had just moved to Canada 18-months earlier.

Nwonye was an engineer in Nigeria, but was unable to find work in that field in Calgary because of the downturn. He worked two jobs while studying nursing at Bow Valley College.

Nwonye's wife, Ugonna Nwonye, was left to raise her three young children — three and five years old and a three-month-old infant — when her husband died.

The Crown read her statement to the court.

In it, Nwonye spoke directly to her husband's killer.

"I keep asking what we have done to deserve this," the statement read. "You wrecked and slaughtered the hearts of innocent children."

Nwonye's statement says she was a young wife and ambitious individual when she arrived in Canada who was taking steps to pass the bar in Alberta.

She had been a practising attorney in Nigeria.

Now, she says she has trouble maintaining relationships with people, has acute anxiety and suffers from a panic disorder.

"I feel that life itself is choking me," Nwonye said.

Nicholas Nwonye's mother Anne also spoke directly to Gagnon in her statement, which was read aloud by her daughter.

"Nicholas was the bond that held my family," Anne Nwonye's statement reads, going on to say he was a Christian man with a strong faith and family values.

"He never had any encounters with the law, so it was confusing that he died this way."