Prosecutors seek 8-year sentence for deadly stabbing

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/05/2015 (3262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Crown is seeking an eight-year prison sentence for a Winnipeg man responsible for a deadly 2012 stabbing inside a Transcona home.

Gerald Mustard, 43, was convicted earlier this month of manslaughter. Jurors found him not guilty of a more serious charge of second-degree murder, but also rejected his bid to walk free based on a claim of self-defence.

Mustard returned to court Friday for sentencing. Family members of the 50-year-old victim, Anthony Sorokowski, presented emotional impact statements describing their loss.

“You caused us great suffering and sorrow. Every day I feel the loss of my precious son,” his elderly mother, Lavana Gentray, told court. “You’ll pay for what you have done. When you get to the other side you’ll have to answer for it.”

Michael James said his uncle was a kind, compassionate man whose death has left a major void in their family.

“Mr. Mustard lives on. He will have sunrises and sunsets. Tony’s are gone,” said James.

Justice officials say Mustard should be sentenced to eight years behind bars, while he is asking for between three and four years. Queen’s Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg will give her decision on June 2.

“I’m sorry for your pain and your loss,” Mustard said Friday when asked if he had any comments to make.

Jurors heard at trial how Sorokowski just wanted to get some sleep. But his attempts to kick Mustard of his home ended in his death. Sorokowski was slashed in the throat with a knife, suffering extensive blood loss from which he could never recover.

Only one other person was present during the incident. Kayla Peterson testified how she was a friend of Sorokowski’s who had spent the evening drinking and doing cocaine with him. She then called Mustard, another friend of hers, to pick her up to get more beer because Sorokowski was too drunk to drive. Mustard obliged, then returned to Sorokowski’s home in the 300 block of Regent Avenue.

It was the first time the two men ever met. Sorokowski decided he’d had enough socializing and asked Mustard to leave.

“He said ‘I’m going to bed soon, I’m getting tired, I want you to leave,’ ” Peterson told jurors. Sorokowski went to the bathroom and got “angry and frustrated” when he emerged to find Mustard still in his suite, she said.

The two men came together and a fist fight seemed inevitable. But that’s when Mustard apparently pulled out a folding knife and struck Sorokowski in the throat, severing his jugular.

“He clearly made his wishes known. He was the homeowner, he was entitled to do that,” Crown attorney Chris Vanderhooft said Friday. He called Mustard’s reaction “unnecessary and over the top.”

Mustard expressed immediate remorse and even tried to save Sorokowski’s life. He could heard on the 911 call saying “I’m sorry, he jumped me, I stabbed him. Hurry, hurry, hurry.”

Sorokowski spent four days on life-support. The massive blood loss shut down all brain function because of oxygen deprivation. He was survived by three adult children.

www.mikeoncrime.com