Bystander’s killer gets at least 15 years in jail

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This article was published 11/06/2010 (5570 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A convicted killer must spend at least 15 years in prison before he has a chance to be released on parole — and into the waiting arms of border officials, who plan to immediately deport him from Canada.

Jeffrey Cansanay was convicted in April of second-degree murder for killing an innocent bystander with a stray bullet meant for a drug-dealing rival. He is a citizen of the Philippines and is expected to be given a one-way ticket home because of his violent criminal history. However, Canadian law requires that he finish serving his sentence before he can be kicked out of the country.

Cansanay, 24, faced a mandatory life sentence with no parole eligibility for at least 10 years. The Crown wanted that raised to 25 years, the same punishment a person convicted of first-degree murder would face and the most severe sentence in the Criminal Code. Cansanay’s lawyer argued against the change.

Queen’s Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg said Thursday she was upping the term to 15 years, citing Cansanay’s lack of remorse, bleak prospects for rehabilitation and the nature of his crime. She noted there is no guarantee he will ever be released from prison.

Defence lawyer Greg Brodsky said they may consider appealing Greenberg’s ruling, arguing there was no reason to depart from the minimum parole eligibility because his client had no intention to kill. Family and friends of the victim, Phil Haiart, expressed anger with the sentence.

"This man is a cold-blooded killer and convicted drug dealer. There is no justice for me or his family," Haiart’s former girlfriend, Isora Van Dreser, said in an interview.

Haiart, 17, was walking through the West End in October 2005 when he was caught in the crossfire of a gang fight. The two intended targets in the shooting were Gharib Abdullah and Cory Amyotte, who gave video statements in which they blamed Cansanay and co-accused Corey Spence. Their street gang, the Mad Cowz, had been waging war on Cansanay and his associates for selling drugs on their turf. Their statements were pivotal to the Crown’s case because police never recovered the gun used to shoot Haiart.

Cansanay previously went on trial in 2007 but was cleared by a judge who refused to allow videotaped police statements of Abdullah and Amyotte to be played in court after both men refused to testify. The Manitoba Court of Appeal later overturned the decision and ordered a new trial, saying the judge had erred.

Abdullah and Amyotte were cited for contempt of court and received precedent-setting prison terms — four years for Amyotte, three-and-a-half for Abdullah for refusing to testify.

Both testified at Cansanay’s second trial when it began earlier this spring. Abdullah told jurors he saw Cansanay open fire on him and Amyotte. Amyotte said he was in hiding at the time and didn’t see anything.

At Spence’s trial, the judge allowed the videotaped evidence. The 19-year-old was convicted of second-degree murder and given life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years.

www.mikeoncrime.com