R. v. Greenwood, 2012 NSSC 194

SUPREME COURT OF NOVA SCOTIA Citation: R. v. Greenwood, 2012 NSSC 194 Date: 20120509 Docket: CRK 352344 Registry: Kentville Between: Her Majesty the Queen v. Leslie Douglas Greenwood SENTENCING Judge: The Honourable Chief Justice Joseph P. Kennedy Trial Dates: April 23 - May 9, 2012, in Kentville, Nova Scotia Sentencing Date: May 9, 2012 in Kentville, Nova Scotia Counsel: Shauna MacDonald, Peter Craig and Susan Bour for the Crown Alain J. Bégin for the Defendant By the Court :

By the Court : [ 1 ] THE COURT: Thank you. Crown? [ 2 ] MS. MACDONALD: Thank you, My Lord. Obviously this is a situation of a statutory mandatory sentence and having heard the two odd weeks of testimony, there isn ’ t a lot to say. [ 3 ] I would address a few issues with the Court.

One is that in terms of victim impact from the Mersereau and Christensen family - they have been contacted and have declined to become involved in that process, so we do not have victim impact statements available from representatives of those families. [ 4 ] We would also note that there are some mandatory ancillary orders including DNA and we would ask for the DNA Order and lifetime firearms prohibition, although we ’ re unsure of the practice locally - if we have to draft those orders, we ’ ll have to forward them.

If we do, we ’ ll have to forward them to Your Lordship ’ s attention for consideration. [ 5 ] We would say that this was certainly a brutal, senseless, gruesome, violent crime. There was an impact on the whole community. I would note that although there was evidence of one child in the residence, Mr. Mersereau and Ms. Christensen actually had two - one little girl was staying at her grandmother ’ s on the night in question, and those two children are without parents and that is obviously in large measure due to the actions of Mr.

Greenwood. [ 6 ] We suggest to the Court that if this were not a mandatory statutory sentence, that the right sentence would be exactly what that statutory sentence is. [ 7 ] THE COURT : Defence? [ 8 ] MR. BÉGIN : I really can ’ t argue with anything my friend just said, My Lord. Obviously these are gruesome, violent, brutal crimes. I won ’ t dispute that for one second. I would hope that my friend would know the date that Mr. Greenwood was picked up on and I would ask that his sentence start from December 2010 - he ’ s been in custody since, My Lord. [ 9 ] MS.

MacDONALD : I think as a matter of law, parole eligibility begins on the date of arrest - I think that ’ s codified. [ 10 ] MR. BÉGIN : I ’ m just making note of that for the record, My Lord, but apart from that I have nothing else to add. [ 11 ] THE COURT : Well, it ’ s not .. parole eligibility is .. I agree with the Crown, as of the date of arrest, it ’ s not for me. It will not be necessary for Mr. Greenwood to stand, we have, ah, first degree murder - you may be seated Mr. Greenwood. I will invite .. is there anything before I sentence, is there anything Mr. Greenwood may wish to say.

I know everything is rushed today - I don ’ t mean rushed, but everything has happened at once, so if you could ask him if there ’ s anything that he wishes to say that I ’ d be pleased to give him that opportunity. [ 12 ] MR. BÉGIN : He has nothing to say, My Lord. [ 13 ] THE COURT : Alright, thank you. Two counts of first degree murder - the most serious offences known to the criminal law in this country. I ’ ve had an opportunity to hear the evidence. It was an execution.

A classic situation of planned and deliberate and the reason that first degree murder exists in the Criminal Code - to address this type of situation. [ 14 ] I ’ ll just say quickly that one of the things that I am most - I was going to use the word “ impressed ” but that wouldn ’ t be the

right word - that I find of interest in relation to these matters is that matters of this nature - matters that involve organized crime - of what terrible, terrible lives the people who are involved in organized crime lead. Awful, Awful lives. They live their lives in fear - fear of the people that they associate with - they are afraid of one another. They do terrible things to one another. [ 15 ] It is a .. aside from the damage that they do to society generally, the lifestyle that they lead must be as close to hell on this earth as I can possibly imagine.

I would wonder why anybody would want to live that kind of life.

I ’ m not going to say anything more specific in relation to Les Douglas Greenwood, and the reason why we can sentence today is that there ’ s no question about what the sentence is. [ 16 ] On the first count, first degree murder, in relation to Barry Kirk Mersereau, there will be a period of life imprisonment without eligibility for parole for a period of 25 years. [ 17 ] On the second count, specific first degree murder, in relation to Nancy Paula Christensen, a period of life imprisonment without eligibility for parole for a period of 25 years. [ 18 ] It may be redundant to say this, but those counts are concurrent, concurrent counts - life imprisonment. [ 19 ] That said, I hope that .. well, I ’ ll leave it at that.

Thank you. [ 20 ] MS. MacDONALD : My Lord, can I forward those orders to your attention? [ 21 ] THE COURT : The two orders - the DNA Order and the Firearms Order - are both approved. I ’ ll sign those orders when they are presented to me. [ 22 ] Thank you, counsel. Kennedy, C.J.S.C.