A B.C. Supreme Court Justice sentenced Garrett Steven George to a further eight years and four months in prison on Wednesday for the manslaughter death of his common law spouse, Destiny Rae Tom, on the Nadleh reserve nearly three years ago.
About 100 people packed a courtroom at the Prince George courthouse to hear the decision from Justice Miriam Gropper, who took slightly more than an hour to read out her reasons for sentencing.
She described George's actions during the early morning of March 23, 2013 as "extremely violent" and recounted a lengthy list of the injuries Tom suffered at his hands, three of which could have caused her death as she was punched, kicked and dragged along the ground.
The assault occurred shortly after George was kicked out of a party at a friend's house on the reserve near Fraser Lake after getting into a fight with another man. George kept coming back and demanding Tom leave with him.
Tom was reluctant to do so and expressed her fear. Others at the party noted Tom was "crying and terrified" but she was finally convinced to leave. Her frozen and partially unclothed body was found roughly three hours later.
It was not the first time George had attacked her. Over the four years they were together, George assaulted her at least five times, two of which led to convictions, leaving Tom with signficant injuries, the court had heard.
George also ignored court orders to stay away from her, defying the condition for a total of 3 1/2 years by either living with her or staying in contact with her, Gropper said. The last of those orders ended in October 2012, four months before killed her.
Gropper also went some way to dismiss his assertion, given when he spoke to the court during a sentencing hearing three weeks ago, that in contrast to her reputation as a shy and quiet young woman, Tom was could be the instigator in their often tumultuous relationship.
"Even if Ms. Tom was an active participant, Mr. George is bigger and stronger and Ms. Tom was the one who inevitably got hurt," Gropper said.
The two had met at a party when she was 17 and he was 23. They moved into her parents' home on the Palling reserve - part of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation - west of Burns Lake. George's violent side soon emerged but they stayed together and Tom was soon pregnant with their daughter. They eventually moved to George's home reserve at Nadleh.
Tom was described as a good student who wanted to become a nurse while George never completed high school and never held down a steady job. He grew up in an often violent home - a brother is in prison and has been classified as a long-term offender - and struggled with depression.
Gropper said George sought to exert control over Tom throughout the time they were together. When she wanted to leave him for a job opportunity, George attempted to commit suicide and then threatened to kill himself if she tried to leave again, Gropper noted.
He also once attacked her with a knife for trying to go on a graduation trip without him and when they moved to Nadleh, she lost communication with her family, did not work and never left their house without George, Gropper continued.
While there appeared to be "some acceptance" of George continuing to reside with Tom in spite of the court orders, she "expressed concern that he would assault her again and worried that if she left, it would be worse."
"This did not show that Ms. Tom agreed that they continue to live together," Gropper said. "On the contrary, it demonstrated that Ms. Tom had no option."
In all, George was sentenced to 11 years less 966 days, based on 1 1/2 days credit for each day spent in custody prior to sentencing. George was originally charged with second-degree murder but in June pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter following a voir dire hearing.
The mood in the courtroom was generally sombre and subdued as Gropper read out her reasons, but afterwards some in the gallery quietly uttered some comments for George as he was cuffed and led out of the courtroom.
George, who at one point during Gropper's decision, took off his glasses to wipe away tears, was in a sour mood as he was led away, glaring at his lawyer, Jim Heller, and accusing him of doing a poor job.
Perhaps best known for representing convicted serial killer Cody Allan Legebokoff during his trial in mid-2014, Heller also defended Jesse Norman Sweder, who was found not guilty in 2011 of second-degree murder in the December 2004 shooting death of Peter John Letendre outside Victoria Towers in Prince George.
