Candace Moostoos is escorted from Melfort Court of Queen’s Bench on Jan. 16, 2017. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski.
Candace Gail Moostoos has received a seven-year sentence for the early 2015 stabbing death of Alpheus Burns.
The sentence was delivered Monday morning by Justice Barrington-Foote at Melfort Court of Queen’s Bench. Afterwards, 36-year-old Moostoos worked around her shackled hands and feet in order to hug her children and about eight family members who stayed behind to say goodbye to her.
Her sister yelled “I love you” after Moostoos was escorted into the RCMP transport vehicle, and a muffled “I love you” could be heard coming from behind the gated doors of the van.
Both Moostoos and Burns are members of the James Smith Cree Nation, but the stabbing death took place in the Melfort apartment where 70-year-old Burns had been living at the time.
Last fall, a jury found Moostoos not guilty of murder and guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
At sentencing, Barrington-Foote laid out aggravating factors for Moostoos: this includes the fact that Burns was elderly, he was killed in his own home, that Moostoos watched as he died, and that she took actions to cover up what she did which shows she was not immediately willing to take responsibility for her actions.
On the other hand, the judge said he considers Moostoos’ confession the following day, as well as the circumstances in Moostoos’ life that led her to the drug addiction, prostitution and anger that influenced her actions that night, to be mitigating factors.
Barrington-Foote also said that during the night of Burns’ death, Burns had verbally insulted and physically abused Moostoos by grabbing her crotch aggressively and offering her a small amount of money in return for oral sex. In addition, Burns told Moostoos, and she believed, that she was infected with AIDs and “she had reason to fear” what might happen next, Barrington-Foote said.
“None of this is intended to suggest” that Burns deserved what happened, he said, adding that Burns was a brother, a friend, and an Elder, and “Alpheus Burns’ life was no less valuable than any other victim.”
Trial testimony revealed allegations that Burns had a long history of sexually abusing Moostoos as well as several other trial witnesses.
Crown prosecutor Tyla Olenchuk said those unique circumstances were one of her biggest challenges in this case.
“I wanted everyone to be clear that Mr. Burns did not deserve what happened to him, regardless of what Miss Moostoos alleged to have happened between the two of them in the past. Her appropriate response to that, of course, would have been to report it to the police,” she said.
Moostoos’ uncle Gerald Whitehead speaks outside court. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski.
Moostoos’ uncle Gerald Whitehead says he considered Burns to be an uncle. Whitehead said in the past two years, his family has been grappling with mixed emotions since the allegations of Burns’ past abuse came to light.
“The involvement with Alpheus and the stuff he was doing over the last 40 years or so, I wasn’t aware of that. And that’s what caused a lot of mixed emotions within myself and within the community of James Smith,” he said.
Whitehead said the sentencing gives the family a chance to move ahead.
“I know Candace was satisfied with the outcome of her sentence and I know she’s going to work forward now to resolving a lot of the issues that took her here today,” he said.
Already, he said Moostoos is dealing with her addictions and wants to better herself and her children.
Defence has asked that Moostoos gets consideration to serve a portion of her sentence in a healing lodge.
The Crown had been asking for a sentence of eight to 10 years, while defence had asked for four years.
Moostoos has a total of four and a half years left to serve, and will be subject to a DNA order, 10-year firearm ban and an order to pay a victim surcharge of $200.