Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 21/05) - The man convicted of beating and strangling a fellow drug dealer in a Yellowknife crack house will spent at least 14 years in prison.

Forty-year-old Gerald Delorme was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 14 years Tuesday.

Justice John Vertes called the June 2003 murder of Justin Hai Van Vo a "shock and eye-opener" for the community and told the court that the public needs to be involved in helping eradicate the problem of drugs and crime on city streets.

Calling Delorme the "muscle man" who protected the downtown crack house where dealer Vo was murdered, Vertes referred to the crime as one that no community should have to deal with.

Vo's smouldering body was found by a city worker out by the Yellowknife River in June 2003, after being dumped there by Delorme and three other men.

Delorme, dressed in a plaid shirt and wearing glasses, stood stony-faced while listening to Vertes decision. Afterward, he whispered comforting words and hugged family members goodbye before he was led away.

The Yellowknife resident was convicted on June 30 of second degree murder by an 11-person jury. He is the last of four men to be convicted in connection with Van Vo's death.

Fellow crack house resident Francis Yukon, who provided key testimony against Delorme, received five years for manslaughter earlier this year.

Richard Tutin pleaded guilty to accessory to murder and is serving three and a half years in jail. He testified he watched as Delorme hit Vo in the head with a crowbar and stabbed him before wrapping an extension cord around his body and neck.

Dale Coutoreille also pleaded guilty to accessory to murder and received three years in jail.

Crown satisfied

Outside the courtroom, Crown attorney Noel Sinclair said the Crown was satisfied with the sentence.

He pointed to the serious drug problem that exists in the city and hoped that Delorme's sentence will send a message to others involved in the industry that their behaviour warrants serious jail time.

During Tuesday's hearing, Sinclair described the beating Vo received as "near torture" and asked Vertes to set parole at between 16-20 years of the sentence.

Citing Delorme's 30-criminal convictions, many of them for violent crimes, Sinclair called him an angry and powerful man capable of cold, calculated brutality. "This crime has changed the way Yellowknifers think about their community," he said.

Defence attorney Catherine Rhinelander sought the minimum parole eligibility of 10 years.

Delorme left the courtroom in the company of two plainclothes police officers. No decision has been made on where he will serve his sentence. He'll also face a firearms prohibition for the rest of his life.