THUNDER BAY - Deemed a significant risk to violently reoffend, convicted murderer David Wilson will spend a dozen years behind bars before being able to apply for parole.
Wilson was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison with a 12-year parole ineligibility period after a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder last month in the killing of Robert Barbeau nearly two years ago.
Wilson attacked Barbeau from behind in the parking lot of their McLaughlin Street apartment complex on the night of June 5, 2014, stabbing the 48-year-old three times with a hunting knife, twice in the head and one slash across his neck, leaving the weapon embedded in the victim’s temple.
The now 50-year-old Wilson, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, had been seeking a verdict of not criminally responsible as a result of mental disorder. The jury found him guilty after less than six hours of deliberation.
Superior Court Justice Helen Pierce said while she could not go as far as the Crown’s requested 15-year ineligibility period, she also could not support the defence’s 10-year minimum position.
“In evaluating the character of the offender, I am bound to consider not only Mr. Wilson’s potential to be rehabilitated but also his potential for violence,” Pierce said.
“The evidence demonstrates that Mr. Wilson can be volatile even when he is medicated and closely supervised. Mr. Wilson’s prospects for rehabilitation are unfortunately limited by his mental illness.”
The judge referenced the six victim impact statements that were made from family and close friends of Barbeau, who expressed a continuing sense of shock and emptiness as a result of the killing. They described him as a loving, caring man who was giving to his friends and family.
She dismissed an argument from the defence that the killing was an impulsive act of an anger but rather showed characteristics of a choice.
“He left Mr. Barbeau in the parking lot of the apartment and returned to his home to fetch a knife for the purpose of killing him. This interval could have afforded him an opportunity to step back, or calm down,” Pierce said.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t. The rage he experienced carried him into the building to obtain a weapon and to return to effect the stabbing. This is more than a burst of anger with resort to a weapon at hand.”
The court heard during the trial that just 11 days prior to the fatal, unprovoked attack on Barbeau, Wilson had assaulted his own nephew with a guitar and box cutter.
The nephew declined to press charges as the family hoped Wilson would be committed to the psychiatric unit of the regional hospital, though he was released later that night.
Pierce said it was “regrettable” Wilson was not hospitalized or charged for that incident.
She also said the attack on the nephew, which seemed to be based on a delusion, could have had a more serious outcome and illustrated the risk Wilson presents to the broader public.
Though he is eligible to apply for release starting 12 years into his sentence, it will be up to a parole board to determine if he will ever get out.
Wilson is also ordered to submit a DNA sample and, if ever released, will be subjected to a 10-year weapons prohibition.
