Crown asks for adult sentence in 2019 murder By: Dean Pritchard Posted: 7:00 PM CST Monday, Nov. 7, 2022

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This article was published 06/11/2022 (682 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Prosecutors are seeking an adult sentence of life in prison for a Winnipeg man convicted of bludgeoning his mother to death in her bed when he was 16.

“This accused is not your typical youth offender,” Crown attorney Erika Dolcetti told King’s Bench Justice Anne Turner in a courtroom crowded with more than two dozen of the man’s family members and supporters.

“This is a heinous crime of gratuitous violence… It cries out for an adult sentence.”

The now 20-year-old stood trial for first-degree murder in the March 2019 slaying of his 51-year-old mother, but was found guilty by a jury of the lesser offence of second-degree murder.

The Free Press is not naming the victim, as it would identify the accused, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The maximum youth sentence for second-degree murder is seven years, at least three of which must be served in the community. If sentenced as an adult to mandatory life in prison, he would be eligible for parole after serving seven years in custody.

“This is a heinous crime of gratuitous violence… It cries out for an adult sentence.”–Crown attorney Erika Dolcetti

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, youth are considered to be of “diminished moral blameworthiness,” compared to adults. To persuade a court to impose an adult sentence, prosecutors must successfully “rebut” that presumption and satisfy a judge a youth sentence is of insufficient length to hold an offender accountable.

Dolcetti said the man showed adult sophistication in plotting the murder, creating an alibi for himself and quickly directing police to one of his mother’s co-workers as the likely killer.

“His post-offence conduct was carefully crafted from the moment he murdered his mother,” Dolcetti said. “We know he took great pains not only to cover up the fact he murdered his mother, but he also attempted to frame an innocent man of the crime he knew he didn’t commit.”

Jurors heard evidence at trial the woman, who shared custody of her son with her ex-husband, had been off work for several months due to a physical injury and mental health issues.

The night before the killing, the man bought his mother flowers and made her dinner — all part of a ruse, prosecutors alleged, to divert attention from himself.

“We know he took great pains not only to cover up the fact he murdered his mother, but he also attempted to frame an innocent man of the crime he knew he didn’t commit.”–Crown attorney Erika Dolcetti

Prosecutors said the woman was already dead when her son left home at 9:08 a.m. to take their dog for an unscheduled visit to pet daycare and other errands meant to provide him with an alibi. The man returned home at 10:38 a.m. and five minutes later called 911.

Security video from neighbouring houses showed no one else leaving or entering the house during the teen’s absence.

The man beat the woman at least a dozen times in the head with possibly a crowbar, Dolcetti said Monday. She suffered broken arms as she tried in vain to fend off the attack, which would have left her killer covered in blood.

After killing his mother, the man poured bleach over her head, cleaned himself up, disposed of the murder weapon and his bloody clothing, then calmly went outside to change the air filter in his mother’s car. Over the next 90 minutes, he sent numerous texts to his mother’s cellphone and others, while running “errands.”

Thousands of text messages uncovered by police, a sampling of which was provided to jurors at trial, showed the woman was dependant on her son, beginning when he was as young as 14.

“We can’t fix something that we can’t see.”–Crown attorney Erika Dolcetti

The victim was a “needy and insecure person,” Crown attorney Jennifer Mann said in a closing argument in June. “She put guilt trips on (her son) and expected a lot from him.”

Text messages show the teen was often responsible for cooking, grocery shopping, and household maintenance duties. The woman had “few boundaries” with her son and treated him more like a partner, Mann said.

Many of the man’s family members and family friends have professed belief in his innocence and provided court with nearly 50 letters of support.

However, two maternal aunts don’t support him, Dolcetti said, and the man purposely did not disclose their existence to a probation officer who wanted to speak to family members for a court-ordered pre-sentence report.

The Crown said the man also blocked efforts to secure the notes of a school guidance counsellor he spoke to prior to his mother’s death.

Dolcetti said the man’s attempts to present a “polite, calm and appropriate” image to others will compromise any effort to rehabilitate him.

“That is scary,” she said. “We can’t fix something that we can’t see.”

The sentencing hearing continues Tuesday.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca