A Thunder Bay man convicted of manslaughter will have to wait until the end of the year to learn his sentence.
A sentencing hearing was held for 34-year-old Joseph Wesley Wednesday at the Superior Court of Justice. Wesley pleaded guilty in June to manslaughter in connection with the death of 65-year-old Adam Yellowhead.
Wesley was charged with second-degree murder after Yellowhead's body was found on Aug. 29, 2012 in a wooded area off of Field Street.
The grim details of Yellowhead's death were revealed in court Wednesday through the Crown and defence’s agreed statement of facts, which included details of how just 45 minutes after first responders arrived on scene where Yellowhead's body was found, Wesley was being released from the Thunder Bay Police Services station where he had spent the night after a public intoxication charge.
In an interview with the police, Wesley said he was drinking Listerine with Yellowhead somewhere between 10 and 11 p.m. the night of the incident; the two started arguing. Wesley said he had Yellowhead in a headlock from behind and then the victim fell back on top of Wesley. The then murder suspect told police he heard Yellowhead’s neck break.
Stating he was scared, Wesley left the area.
Shortly after 1 a.m. Aug. 29, police responded to a call about a man sleeping on a bench in front of the SilverCity movie theatre on May Street.
The man was identified as Wesley and police detected a strong odour of Listerine. Wesley was also slurring his speech and was unsteady on his feet.
There was no room in the detox centre that night and he was too intoxicated to take to Shelter House. That led police to arrest him for public intoxication.
Yellowhead's body was discovered around 8:45 a.m. by four individuals; one of those individuals checked for a pulse but did not find one.
Wesley was at the police station in a cell until he was released at 9:30 a.m.
Around 4:20 p.m. city police received a call from a Nishnawbe-Aski Nation police officer in Cat Lake, who stated they had received calls from two of Wesley's aunts, who said their nephew had called and said he had killed someone and thought he had broken the man's neck.
Police also learned from one of the victim's relatives that Yellowhead had been diagnosed with colon cancer, refused treatment and had lost about 60 to 80 pounds in the five months prior to his death.
The post-mortem examination revealed the cause of death to be asphyxiation due to a crush injury to the larynx caused by strangulation.
The exam also indicated Yellowhead received several other blows to the face and head and small cuts on his right hand.
Yellowhead also had a blood alcohol level four times the legal driving limit of 310 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.
Wesley had also told a cousin about what had happened and that cousin was interviewed by the Thunder Bay police on Aug. 31 around 6 p.m.
An arrest warrant was issued for Wesley around 7:15 p.m. and local police had received a call from the Kenora OPP detachment around 10:25 p.m. that evening that they had located Wesley and placed him under arrest.
City police arrived in Kenora the next morning and drove Wesley back to Thunder Bay.
Wesley's lawyer Chris Watkins asked the judge for a sentence of three to six years in a correctional institution, where Wesley would receive psychiatric and substance abuse treatment.
Watkins said his client has shown remorse and taken responsibility for Yellowhead's death and his client has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and was abused as a child.
Crown attorney Shari Frenette asked for a sentence of 10 to 12 years in custody.
Frenette said the forensic evidence shows Yellowhead's death was not the result of a momentary action, but sustained force on the neck.
The Crown also said Wesley not only fled the scene of the crime, but also fled the city and there is no evidence to suggest he would have come forward.
The victim impact statements from Yellowhead's children were filled with sentiments of great sorrow said Frenette, adding they are struggling to come to terms with this loss.
Wesley was given a chance to speak and after a long pause to compose himself said he was sorry and asked Yellowhead's family to forgive him.
He said he didn't mean to hurt anyone.
The case was adjourned to Dec. 30 when the sentence will be delivered.
