'I wish none of this had happened'
Tearful testimony at sentencing hearing of man who killed uncle in drunken rage
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Friday, February 17, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Raw, bitter emotion boiled to the surface in court Tuesday at a sentencing hearing for a man who says he was so drunk he doesn't remember brutally beating his uncle to death at house party last March.
Herman Abel was beaten to death by his nephew Stanley Abel Jr. at a house party in Dettah last March. The nephew is expecting to be sentenced today for manslaughter after a day of heart-wrenching testimony by family members in NWT Supreme Court. - Facebook photo |
Stanley Abel Jr., 31, is to be sentenced by Judge Louise Charbonneau in NWT Supreme Court this afternoon. Members of the immediate and extended Abel family openly wept as Abel Jr. turned toward the public gallery and addressed his relatives.
"I have thought about what I did for a long time. I am very sorry for the sad faces here today. I wish none of this had happened," Abel Jr. said, choking back tears. "Your are my family and always will be. I love all of you."
Court had heard Abel Jr. has no recollection of the events in Dettah on March 30, 2016 when he punched, kicked and stomped his uncle Herman Abel while he slept on the floor of a bedroom in the house where the party had been held. Abel Jr. attacked his uncle believing he had stolen his bottle of vodka.
He was initially charged with aggravated assault but that charge was upgraded to murder after Herman Abel died later that day in hospital. Abel Jr. pleaded guilty to manslaughter in December.
There were more tears from family members when a sister of Herman Abel, Verna Catholique, read from three separate victim impact statements - two from the victim's sisters and one from his young daughter.
"This has caused a great deal of pain and anger - anger toward our own nephew and cousin and it never had to happen," Catholique said as she struggled to get the words out.
One man ran from the courtroom in tears as Catholique continued to read while being consoled by a victim services worker.
"This has split our family. As angry as we all are at Stanley, we love him and always will. We do not want to lose him," she said.
Catholique encouraged Abel Jr. to better himself in prison, to try and turn his life around and heal. She suggested accomplishing that would go a long way toward helping the family forgive him.
Crown prosecutor Marc Lecorre has called for a six-year prison sentence. He noted alcohol was the root cause of the incident but added the attack was inflicted upon a defenceless man who was sleeping at the time.
"Someone died over a bottle of alcohol," Lecorre said. "It was an extreme example of the ravages of alcohol that led to the ultimate consequence."
Lecorre did give Abel Jr. credit for his guilty plea which spared the family the emotional ordeal of a lengthy trial.
Abel Jr.'s lawyer Charles Davison argued for a four-year sentence.
"Mr. Abel is acutely aware of what this did to his family," Davison said. "Abel and his uncle were close friends ... More like brothers." Davison added Abel Jr. has no memory of the event after waking up at home in bed.
"Stanley used the word 'unreal' when describing that night due to his lack of memory of what happened," Davison told the court. "He continues to come to terms with what happened and grieves for his uncle. He wishes he could change a lot of things from that night."
Davison said the attack was out of character for Abel Jr. who only had a minor criminal record prior to the beating.
Charbonneau noted Abel did not have a particularly traumatic upbringing which would help explain the attack. She said there was alcohol abuse and domestic violence in the home but only when Abel Jr. was very young. She gave him 16 months credit for the time he has already served at the North Slave Correctional Centre awaiting his sentencing hearing.
Charbonneau is scheduled to sentence Abel Jr. at 2 p.m. today.
