THUNDER BAY – After 10 years and one day, the second person convicted in the unprovoked fatal attack on 32-year-old William Wapoose has been sentenced.
Jonathan Massicotte, 28, appeared before Justice Daniel Newton in a Thunder Bay courtroom on Wednesday where he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 12 years.
Massicotte was convicted of second-degree murder last spring following a second trial before Justice John Fregeau that saw several adjournments throughout 2023.
The retrial before judge alone was requested by the Crown after a jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict at trial in 2022.
A male youth, who was 17-years-old at the time of the offence, was found guilty of manslaughter in January 2023.
Throughout the trials, evidence was presented detailing the events that took place on the night of Sept. 3, 2014 in Chapples Park.
Massicotte and two youths, including the one convicted of manslaughter, were all consuming alcohol that day and walked a friend home.
When returning through Chapples Park, they encountered Wapoose, who was intoxicated and sleeping against a light post.
While the three individuals initially walked past Wapoose, a witness testified that Massicotte and the accused youth decided to return to rob Wapoose.
The witness testified Massicotte struck Wapoose on the head with a heavy pole he found earlier in the park, and he and the accused youth proceeded to punch and kick Wapoose before dragging him into a nearby ditch where they continued to beat him.
A post-mortem report determined Wapoose suffered numerous blunt and sharp force injuries to the head and neck, including a fractured skull, four fractured ribs, and a deep stab wound to the neck. The cause of death was determined to be loss of blood from a severed carotid artery and jugular vein.
Fregeau said in his ruling that there is no way to determine with certainty who stabbed Wapoose, but he found the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Massicotte intended to cause Wapoose bodily harm that he knew would cause his death.
During a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Crown attorney Trevor Jukes read into the record a victim impact statement prepared by Wapoose’s father.
“It’s been hard losing my son in such a violent way. My words today might not seem much, but the daily battle within myself takes its toll,” he said.
“When the investigator called me to inform me of the arrest five years later, it was the first time I had tears roll down my eyes. I had balled up all my emotions and pretended to be strong while I was falling apart inside my being.”
The statement goes on to say that Wapoose was very close with his grandfather and he had a lot of plans for the future, like graduating and attending college.
“He had plans for his two girls who he loved with all his being,” he said. “All the love for others was taken away that evening.”
And while Wapoose’s grandfather said he would offer forgiveness to those responsible for his death, his father is not sure he is at that point.
“One day I hope I can come to that place where my father stood, but right now the loss of my son is too heavy,” he said.
A conviction on the charge of second-degree murder carries with it a mandatory life sentence with parole ineligibility ranging between 10 and 25 years.
Defence counsel George Joseph was seeking the minimum period of 10 years of parole ineligibility.
“You have a youthful first offender who has taken considerable steps to rehabilitate himself and make himself a productive member of society since the offence has taken place,” he said.
“I say because Mr. Massicotte was a young man at the time of the offence, and his lack of criminal involvement since the offence should weigh in his favour of keeping the needle at the lower end of the spectrum.”
Jukes was seeking a period of between 11 and 15 years of parole ineligibility, agreeing that Massicotte’s age at the time of the offence diminished his moral blameworthiness to an extent, but he also noted the significant aggravating factor in this case.
“This was a violent, prolonged, and unprovoked group assault by two individuals with the use of weapons,” Jukes said. “Things would have been fine except for the fact that they decided to return. There is no particular reason for it other than he was there.”
Newton said in his decision that a period of parole ineligibility for 10 years does not adequately reflect the seriousness of the offence, adding that the sentence for crimes such as this must reflect denunciation and deterrence.
“Mr. Wapoose was a highly intoxicated and vulnerable victim who was the subject of a vicious and unprovoked assault,” he said. “They beat him, stabbed him, and left him for dead.”
Newton sentenced Massicotte to 12 years of parole ineligibility. He will also be required to submit a DNA sample and is subject to a weapons prohibition for life.
Massicotte was also charged with assaulting a peace officer, disarming a peace officer, and resisting a peace officer following an altercation inside the courtroom during the delivery of his guilty verdict last March.
