A former Prince George man was sentenced Friday to slightly more than three years in federal prison for the manslaughter death of an adversary in a makeshift homeless camp in the city.
Jeremy John Lowley, 47, was issued the term for the June 27, 2016 death of Patrick Mathewsie, who was 50 years old at the time.
According to an agreed statement of facts, the two had gotten into a fight that ended with Lowley on top. It did not stop there, however, as Lowley put his foot on Mathewsie's neck and stomped with enough force to separate his skull from his top vertebrae.
The incident occurred in the bushy area near the Highway 97 and Massey Drive off ramp. Clean up crews who had gone in found Mathewsie lying against the base of a tree and had assumed he passed out - his blood alcohol level was .373 - and left him alone.
But when a woman who had been an eye witness to the fight later contacted police, his body was recovered a few days after. Lowley and Mathewsie were heavy drinkers and had been at odds over the woman. Lowley also claimed Mathewsie had attacked him with a piece of two-by-four lumber a few weeks before although there was no police report of the alleged incident.
Crown counsel Tyler Bauman had argued for four years, which is typically at the bottom end of the range for the crime, while defence counsel Brian Gilson contended two years was more appropriate, citing special circumstances that lessened Lowley's moral culpability.
In issuing his decision, provincial court judge Peter McDermick went some way to agreeing with Gilson. Referring to case law in support of his position, McDermick noted Lowley's troubled upbringing, evidence he suffers from a brain injury that impairs his judgment and that he entered a residential treatment program in the Fraser Valley over a year ago and has remained sober since.
"He has undertaken significant, tangible and intrusive steps to become sober after a lifetime of alcoholism," McDermick said.
In all, Lowley was sentenced to three years and 3 1/2 months. Less credit of 45 days for time in custody prior to sentence, the term was lessened to three years and 45 days.
In September 2012, Mathewsie was found not guilty of manslaughter in the July 2010 death of a man at a homeless camp at the corner of Winnipeg Street and 17th Avenue.
